Even with an 0-3 record in Big 12 play, ISU coach Dan McCarney is far from throwing in the towel.

McCarney-led Cyclone football teams are no strangers to adversity, and this year’s ISU squad is no different.

Losses to Nebraska, Baylor and Missouri to open Big 12 play leave Iowa State at 3-3 overall with five games remaining on the schedule.

“Fortunately for us, there are five more Saturdays left in the Big 12 and there are some great opportunities there and some exciting challenges,” McCarney said in his weekly Big 12 coaches teleconference.

“We have to find a way to get this thing turned around quickly. We have to find a way to make those plays when the game is on the line.”

Last season at this time, the Cyclones had a 2-4 record, fresh off a loss at Colorado.

A win at Baylor the next week gave the Cyclones a springboard leading to wins in four of their next five games to earn the school’s fourth bowl bid in the last five years.

Needing three more wins to become eligible for the postseason, the team knows it still has a chance.

“There are so many games left to play,” McCarney said. “Even though we’re very disappointed with our Big 12 record right now, I don’t know that anyone can say that we are completely out of anything.”

The Cyclones have lost their last three games in heartbreaking fashion, falling in double overtime to Nebraska and in overtime to Missouri. Their loss two weeks ago to Baylor was the Bears’ first-ever Big 12 road victory.

“My heart aches for these kids, what they’re giving us and their effort,” McCarney said. “It’s a fine line between winning and losing. We all know that and we sure have found that out over the last three Saturdays.”

Now McCarney’s task becomes finding a way to pick the team back up after its losses. He said it is a difficult task – to balance the need to point out and correct mistakes while keeping the team positive.

“We can’t kill their spirit. We have to correct mistakes,” McCarney said. “You don’t go into two overtimes in Lincoln and one overtime in Columbia without doing some good things. We put ourselves in a good position to win and we came up short. We have to correct them, too, to find solutions and improve on those things.”

There are positives for the ISU football team to build on. The offense played one of its better games of the season, while the defense shut down Missouri’s superstar quarterback Brad Smith.

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the Cyclone defense began to bend, giving up two scoring drives that resulted in 10 points in the final nine minutes of regulation.

But once again, it was turnovers that killed the Cyclones’ chances.

Iowa State turned the ball over on two of its first three possessions, both of which were returned for Missouri scores.

In the last three games, Cyclone opponents have forced seven turnovers, the majority of them thwarting legitimate scoring chances.

“It seems like catastrophic mistakes that we are making, not just a mistake,” McCarney said. “We throw an interception for a touchdown, you have a fumble returned for a touchdown, we go in again and fumble again on the 2-yard line when you’re going in to score – those are major, major impacts on a football game.”

Against Missouri, Bret Meyer had an interception returned for a touchdown, while freshman running back Jason Harris had his fumble returned for a second Tiger defensive score.

The final ISU turnover came when Ryan Kock took a pass from Meyer and was hit at the 2-yard line, coughing up the ball.

McCarney said if they can correct those mistakes, he is still confident in his team.

“Losing is losing, who are we kidding,” he said. “We’re still 0-3 and we’re looking to get this turned around as soon as we can.”