The ISU football team’s season may be spiraling into a deep hole, but ISU receiver Todd Blythe said the game is still fun.

“I love football,” Blythe said. “Playing the game of football, whether it’s practice, meetings or games, is always going to be fun to me.

“Obviously I’m frustrated right now and . I pictured things differently at the beginning of the season, and obviously I want things to get turned around, and I think they will. But yeah, I’m always going to have fun playing football.”

Blythe has the type of attitude coach Gene Chizik is looking for as the Cyclones continue to fight an uphill battle going into the toughest part of their schedule.

Chizik said he hopes the team’s struggling record won’t dampen the spirits of his players as the season marches on.

“If I know this football team, [they won’t be discouraged],” Chizik said. “They amaze me when it comes to [bouncing back]. You know, obviously you have to be alert and be aware that’s a possibility. But like I said, if I know this team, so far that hasn’t happened.”

This week may be the toughest test for Chizik’s players, coming off what Chizik said was one of the team’s poorer performances and No. 23 Texas and No. 6 Oklahoma next on the slate.

“This is the first time I can really sit up here on a Monday and not be very positive about any growth on our football team Saturday, in six weeks,” Chizik said at the time. “That’s disappointing.

“Saturday night was not a lack of effort or a lack of, you know, badpractice during the week or whatnot, we just didn’t go up there and perform.”

Fortunately, Chizik said, the Cyclones get to return home and get an emotional boost from a home crowd that hasn’t seen the team in nearly a month.

“It seems like it’s been a long time [since the last home game],” Chizik said. “I think it will be good to get back here at home and not have to travel – not that that should make a difference . but it will be nice to come home and be around these fans that have been so supportive, they’ve been great.”

With the home crowd behind them, linebacker Jesse Smith said the Cyclones still believe they can win games if they pick up the slack and improve on the execution side after last week’s breakdown.

“The team that is going to win is the team that comes to play that day,” Smith said. “The better team doesn’t always win. It’s the better prepared team and the better team that executes the game plan.

“Every week that’s our job – to get better. If we have a ranked team coming in, that makes it even more important to get better.”

Blythe said win or lose, the goal never changes.

“That’s all we can do at this point. Whether we’re 1-5 or 5-1, every week your focus is going to be on improvement,” Blythe said.