Another week, another chance for the ISU football team to rebound.

Iowa State (3-5, 0-4 Big 12) is in the middle of a three-game losing streak and has its back against the wall when it comes to qualifying for a bowl game. The Cyclones need to win at least three of its final four games to be bowl eligible, but it will likely take all four for the Cyclones to get an invite.

That makes the game against Kansas State (4-4, 1-3 Big 12) – at 2:35 p.m. Saturday in Manhattan, Kan. – all the more important.

“The regular season is winding down and going fast,” head coach Dan McCarney said. “We’re going to do everything we can to finish this thing as strong as we possibly can.

“[I told the players] let’s come together and find a way to win. Let’s finish this season with our heads held high and finish this thing in style.”

Thankfully for Iowa State, the Wildcats have struggled at times this year in areas where Iowa State has also had trouble.

The Cyclones struggling pass defense is ranked 11th in the conference, but Kansas State’s passing offense hasn’t been a bright spot either, ranking 11th as well.

Iowa State’s young and beat-up defense will match up against a Wildcat offense that is also very young. However, Kansas State has played well at home and has a dual-threat in the backfield with running backs James Johnson and Leon Patton.

“Kansas State has played really well at home,” McCarney said. “They’ve won four-of six so far at home. They’re extremely experienced on defense but young on offense. They rushed for 262 yards against Missouri where both backs played well. It will be a real challenge for us.”

The Cyclones will welcome getting back to a traditional defensive scheme against Kansas State after playing pass-happy Texas Tech last week, linebacker Alvin Bowensaid.

The Cyclones were torched by the Red Raiders for nearly 500 yards, including 368 yards through the air.

“It will be nice to get back to something we’re more used to playing,” Bowen said. “With Texas Tech, we were kind of playing something that you’re not so familiar with.”

Still, improvement will be necessary from last week’s 221-yard offensive effort against Tech.

“We’ve got to get better,” McCarney said. “We have to play better as a team. We’re going to go back and make some adjustments, but we can’t just revamp the whole lineup or what we’re doing. It’s impossible to do that at this time of year.”

Although McCarney said a complete revamping of the lineup is out of the question, he did say that play on the line of scrimmage for the Cyclones has to improve. And, even as the season continues to spiral out of control, McCarney said he doesn’t sense panic from his players – especially Bret Meyer.

“I don’t sense that he’s mad at anyone or screaming at his linemen or anything,” McCarney said. “And that’s one of the reasons I think we can still finish strong. These guys are a team. There hasn’t been any finger pointing or anything, so I feel real good on that side.”

Instead, the team has taken up the one game at a time mantra.

“[Our plan] is stay focused and get a win,” Bowen said. “That’s the most important thing right now – is to get that next win and get the feeling of winning again. We still have a lot to play for, but we have to take it one game at a time.”

Whether or not the Cyclones rebound against Kansas State or not could determine the legacy of the season for the team in what McCarney called one of the toughest stretches in his career.

“It’s been one of the toughest,” McCarney said. “We’ve had some tough ones. This is one of them.”