Three Heisman trophy winners, an 82-year-old stadium in which the home team has won 70 percent of its games and a coach who has taken teams to both the national championship and the Super Bowl.

Welcome to West Point, N.Y.

Army has a rich, successful tradition in football – including winning national championships in 1944, 1945 and 1946 – something the ISU football team is well aware of.

“Will the atmosphere of West Point and 4,000 cadets, and the history and the tradition distract my football team from doing the job that they need to do or not?

We’ll find out Friday night at 7 o’clock,” said ISU coach Dan McCarney. “None of us in this room know what this team is going to do on the road, because none of us have seen them play yet.”

Sophomore receiver Todd Blythe said he does not think the team will be distracted.

“I hope not, but it’s definitely going to be a different experience for us, with all the cadets in the stands and things like that,” he said.

Army coach Bobby Ross has racked up multiple coaching honors over the years, and McCarney said it is an honor to be on the opposite sideline as Ross on Friday.

“Bobby Ross is a future Hall of Fame coach. When you take a team to a national championship game in college, and an AFC championship and a Super Bowl in NFL football, this is an honor,” McCarney said. “It’s one of the unbelievable things that I get a chance to do as a head coach.”

Blythe said the team has a tremendous amount of respect for each Army athlete, but the Cyclones need to learn to put that aside when the ball is kicked off.

“Obviously, their guys are willing to go out there and die for the country, so you have to give them great respect, and I think all of us on the team do,” Blythe said. “At the same time, we have to remember that when they’re in between the white lines, they’re still football players just like us.

“When you strap on the pads, you have to look at them as just football players, and block all that other stuff out.”

Senior defensive lineman Nick Leaders also said he respects the Black Knight tradition and program, and knows Army has huge incentives for the game.

“They’re playing on national TV to the troops across the way,” he said. “They’re going to be really fired up, and it’s going to be a challenge.”

Army has lost both of its games this season, and has not won a game since October 2004. But, the Black Knights are 3-0 all time in night games played at Michie Stadium.

Army athletes often have a lot more at stake than just a football game, and McCarney said he sees and respects that.

“Obviously, it’s just a place that we’re going into that has tremendous traditions and a rich tradition of success,” McCarney said. “If those young men will go overseas and protect us … and the freedom of everyone in America – give up their lives – they’re not going to be too shook up about Iowa State coming to town.”