For the first time this season, when J.J. Bass looks into the stands, he won’t be seeing his family. Instead, the junior running back from Altamonte Springs, Fla., will be surrounded by national television cameras from the network VERSUS.

Bass’ mom and dad have made it to the first two games this season, but will stay home to watch the game on the national television network.

“They’re excited to watch me play on TV, and I’m excited to go out and get a W this weekend,” Bass said.

VERSUS, which is televising the game for the first time, is a network that some ISU players didn’t know existed. Senior wide receiver Todd Blythe said he didn’t know what it was until he arrived at the annual Big 12 meetings in July.

“I had to do a one-on-one interview with them,” Blythe said. “That was the first time I had heard of them.”

While Saturday’s game won’t be the first time the wide receiver has played on national television, Blythe said he is looking forward to it even though it tends to slow the game down with the TV time-outs.

“It’s definitely fun to play on TV, and I’m looking forward to it this Saturday,” he said.

As for Bass, he said he’s looking forward to introducing the nation to ISU football.

“We get a shot to show what we’re all about,” Bass said.

Kicking the kicking game

He entered the season as one of the most accurate kickers in Cyclone history, but now Bret Culbertson is just looking to add to his total. Culbertson, a former walk-on from Lincoln High School, is 0-3 in field goal attempts this season.

“That’s very disappointing,” said coach Gene Chizik. “It would be different if Bret was a freshman, but this is a guy that’s kicked a lot of balls through the uprights over the years.”

In his first three years with the Cyclones, Culbertson has hit 28 of 37 field goal attempts. This season though, the senior has missed attempts from 44, 47, and 49 yards.

While Chizik said he will continue to stick with Culbertson, he added that he expects to see some major changes from the senior over time.

“We’re looking at some different options,” Chizik said. “I’m not going to throw anybody under the bus right now, but he’s got to improve.”

Uncharted territory

After an 0-2 start, Chizik has found himself in the midst of something he hasn’t been involved with to start a season – a losing streak.

Chizik, who helped guide Texas to a national championship in 2006 as the Longhorns’ defensive coordinator, hasn’t started a season like this since 1999, when he was an assistant coach at Central Florida.

“I’m in somewhat uncharted territory here obviously because it’s my first time being a head coach, but also losing the two opening football games,” Chizik said. “That hasn’t happened to me in a long time.”

The last time, Chizik’s Golden Knights team began the ’99 season 0-4. Central Florida went on to finish that year 4-7.

“No one likes to lose,” he said after losing to Northern Iowa. “That talk in the locker room was not an easy one.”

Wanting more

He got his series last Saturday, now redshirt freshman Austen Arnaud is looking for more playing time.

The backup quarterback from Ames saw his first playing time when he took over the play-calling duties for senior Bret Meyer with 7:71 remaining in the first quarter and completed two of four passes for 15 yards.

Now, Chizik said fans could see more of him, possibly against the Hawkeyes.

“We would like to be able to play Austen some in every game,” Chizik said. “If he’s going to end up being the starting quarterback here, whether it’s a year from now, two years from now, this year, who knows, but if he’s ever going to end up being a quarterback at Iowa State, you’ve got to start somewhere in your career.”

While Chizik said he wasn’t afraid of using the freshman in a high-pressured game, he added that his playing time will definitely increase.

“Our plan, as we go, is to try to inject him in the offense little by little and get him accustomed to playing in a game,” he said.