Building upon the success of last season has motivated the ISU football team throughout the winter and spring months, and Saturday, it gets its final chance to take the field before a summer hiatus.

The Cyclones enter the 2005 season with high expectations. Iowa State is tabbed as a preseason top 25 squad — coming in at No. 25 — on an ESPN.com poll.

ISU coach Dan McCarney acknowledged his team won’t be flying under the radar anymore.

“When you’re the second-most improved team in college football, it opens some eyes,” he said. “We haven’t reached the top of the mountain; we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

McCarney said the team is a little tired after completing six scrimmages in a short period of time, but its work ethic is still there.

“They don’t back off, they still compete,” he said. “They’re very physical, they enjoy playing the game. They’ve got a lot done and it will be fun to see a game.”

The spring game marks the first time all of the first-string players will be on the field together; during practices they’ve been going head-to-head. It also marks former quarterback Austin Flynn’s debut as a wide receiver. Wideout Jon Davis said Flynn’s emergence of has been the biggest surprise this spring.

“We didn’t know how he was going to react to a new position,” Davis said. “We knew he was a good athlete but we didn’t think he’d be so far along so quickly.”

On the defensive side of the ball, McCarney said the starting 11 have been solid throughout the spring but are still looking for help.

“There’s some guys out there starting to emerge as leaders on defense,” he said. “But we still need more guys to step it up. We need more backups, more twos to help us win on game day.”

Tim Dobbins and Matt Robertson are two of the surfacing stars. McCarney said the two have had a good spring and have shown improvement on last season.

“Both of them are more vocal leaders than they’ve ever been,” McCarney said. “The first thing you got to do is play good to be a leader, and then you have to have enough confidence in yourself to lead others.”

Although the competition is familiar, the players said it will be good to get out on the field again.

“We’re still trying to think of it as a game and have fun,” Davis said. “We’re just going to come out here and do what we’ve been doing.”

A successful performance in the spring game can carry over to the next season, as it did for tailback Stevie Hicks. The sophomore broke free for 164 yards on 21 carries last spring game, including a 64-yard touchdown scamper.

“[The spring game] helped me come into two-a-days confident that I could come in and make big plays,” he said.

Hicks said fans can expect to view a fundamental offense being run this weekend.

“You’ll see a basic offense,” he said. “We’re not going to do anything too special.”

What: 2005 ISU football spring game

Where: Jack Trice Stadium

Doors open: Noon

Kickoff: 1 p.m.

Cost: Free

Seating: Limited to the east side of the stadium

Parking: Fans should park in the lots north of Jack Trice. Only Gate 1 will be open for admittance.