The Iowa State Cyclones are the hottest team in the Big 12 North.

They’ve won three straight conference games and sit atop the division as the only team that controls its own postseason destiny. Iowa State hasn’t been playing for a possible Big 12 title this late in the season since the league’s inception.

But Iowa State still has to win some football games to make its dreams of playing in the Big 12 championship game a reality. It’s up to head coach Dan McCarney to make sure that his team doesn’t get caught looking too far ahead.

“I don’t think it’s been a problem, this team, for as young as it is, has really shown a high level of maturity,” McCarney said. “We just don’t look any further than the day in front of us and the day that’s here — we don’t look back and we don’t look ahead.”

For McCarney to instill that mentality in his players it took one major ingredient — communication.

“I think it’s important that we communicate. You always want to have a great pulse of your players; you can’t just rely on your assistants for that,” McCarney said.

“The best coaches I’ve ever been around do a great job of that, week-in week-out, season-in and season-out.”

Just a month ago the 2-4 Cyclones were still at the bottom of the Big 12 and had many Cyclone fans saying those dreadful four words: “Here we go again.”

But now, the 5-4 ISU football team has people saying things of a different nature. One such person is Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder.

“They are, in my eyes, a tremendously improved football team that doesn’t beat itself and doesn’t get in position to give ball games away,” Snyder said.

To be a much-improved team this year is the goal McCarney has preached about all season, and that chip of the 2003 season is all but off his team’s shoulders.

“We were picked dead last in the Big 12 North and dead last in the Big 12 overall, rightfully so coming out of last year’s nightmarish season,” McCarney said. “We’ve slowly but surely tried to get better each week, and for the most part, we’ve been able to do that.”

McCarney has already noticed his team’s three-game win streak paying dividends in the way of recruiting.

“It’s been very positive. We sure didn’t do anything last year to attract much attention to Iowa State football after three really good seasons,” McCarney said. “Slowly but surely, we’re getting young men to take a look at our program again and say, ‘That’s a pretty good option.'”

The Cyclones have the chance to still do a lot of things no one thought they could do with two games left in the season, but McCarney knows they still have to win games, and that starts with Kansas State.

“It’s a big game — we could finish as low as fifth in the Big 12 North, or as high as Big 12 North champions,” McCarney said. “We could sit at home over the holidays like we did last year, or we could go to our fourth bowl game in five years.”