After beating Nebraska last year for the first time since 1992, the Cyclone football team will head to Lincoln to try and upset the Huskers for the second straight year.

Nebraska struggled last year to a historically un-Husker-like 7-7 record, only winning conference games against Missouri, Texas A&M, and Kansas and losing in the Independence Bowl 27-23 to Mississippi.

The Huskers fell out of the top 25 for the first time since 1981 — ending a streak of 348 straight appearances.

This year, the Huskers look like the dominant team they usually are. They are 6-1 (2-1, Big 12) and are coming off a big win against Texas A&M.

Against A&M, the Huskers forced eight turnovers on their way to a 48-12 victory.

ISU head coach Dan McCarney said that Nebraska’s defense is a big reason for its turnaround.

“Defensively, they’re back to the black shirts,” McCarney said. “What you saw all through the years, what I saw my first few years in this league, what I saw when I was in the Big Ten coaching against them, what I saw watching them on television growing up as a kid. They’re just all over you. They’re physical.”

Nebraska is ranked No. 2 in the nation in total defense. The team is ranked in the top five in all defensive categories and leads the country in takeaways.

The Huskers return all but two of their defensive starters from last year. Defensive end Chris Kelsay and cornerback/return specialist DeJuan Groce both graduated and are in the NFL.

Last year, when Iowa State won 36-14 in Ames, the ISU-Nebraska game was between a 3-1 Nebraska team ranked 20th in the country and a 4-1 ISU team ranked 19th on a four-game winning streak.

This year, the No. 11 Huskers are 6-1, with the only blemish on their record coming from a loss at Missouri. The unranked Cyclones are on a five-game losing skid.

McCarney said his team knows how difficult it will be to beat Nebraska.

“We know how tough this game is going to be,” he said. “We know how well they’re playing.”

Last year, the Cyclones jumped out to a 10-0 lead before a 90-yard pass from Jammal Lord to Ross Pilkington made it 10-7. The Cyclones led at halftime 19-7 and extended their lead to 26-7 before eventually winning 36-14.

McCarney said the Cyclones need to start out well against the Huskers this year on the road.

“The way they’ve jumped all over us, it’s been embarrassing the times we’ve gone to Lincoln,” he said. “We have to do all we can to try and make this a game and not dig a hole like we did Saturday against Texas in the first half.”

On offense, the Huskers have five returning starters and lost their feature running back, Dahrran Diedrick. McCarney said the Huskers offense is dangerous because quarterback Jammal Lord has improved greatly.

“[Jammal Lord] is strong, he’s more accurate throwing the ball than he was a year ago,” he said. “He’s a tremendous running back when he runs with it, which he does often. He’s a senior playing like he’s going after that Big 12 championship.”

The Cyclones have a good running quarterback of their own. Freshman Austin Flynn ran for 43 yards on 6 carries in the second half against Texas.

After being relieved by senior Cris Love in the second quarter against Texas Tech and not starting against Texas, Flynn regained his starting job by leading the Cyclones to 19 second-half points against Texas.

Tailback Stevie Hicks had his best game of the season against Texas. The freshman had 67 yards on 11 carries in his first game fully healthy after having turf toe.

“He’s definitely 100 percent now,” McCarney said. “You can imagine when one of your large toes is swollen, anytime you step or walk it hurts, much less running and pushing off and trying to accelerate.

“He was really limited there for a while, no doubt about it. But you saw him Saturday in that second half 100 percent, and that’s what we’ve seen the last couple of weeks.”

McCarney said senior Michael Wagner will start this weekend but the two backs will evenly share the snaps.