Senior standout wide receiver Lane Danielsen said he is ready for Saturday’s game against Iowa — a team to which he has never lost.

“I want to go out as a winner against Iowa,” he said. “It definitely means a lot to me.”

Iowa State has beaten Iowa the last five times they’ve played, ending Iowa’s streak of 15 victories from 1983—97.

Danielsen, a former walk-on from Dike, has been extremely important to the Cyclones, especially the last two seasons.

Last season, Danielsen was former Cyclone and current Seattle Seahawks quarterback Seneca Wallace’s most reliable receiver.

He led the team with 63 catches for 1,073 yards. In the two games played so far, he leads the team with seven catches for 159 yards.

Not heavily recruited in high school, Danielsen chose Iowa State over Northern Iowa. Kirk Ferentz, unlike Cyclone head coach Dan McCarney, didn’t offer him any opportunity to earn a spot in their football program. From a small town in northeast Iowa, Danielsen said he wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when he came to Ames in 1999.

“I didn’t even really know Iowa State had a football team,” he said. “You didn’t hear much about them.”

Danielsen said Iowa State didn’t have much respect from anyone during the losing streak against Iowa.

“Iowa State showed up and took their loss, and that’s the way it was for 15 years,” he said.

He had one explanation for the turnaround in Cyclone country.

“Dan McCarney,” he said. “He made football important around here.

“He made the team important — it means a lot to everyone.”

For his part, McCarney said he’s looking forward to the game like anybody else.

“[I] can’t wait to coach in the game against Iowa,” McCarney said.

“It’s one of the most exciting things I could have as a head coach.”

Danielsen said rankings don’t matter in an Iowa State-Iowa matchup. Although Iowa State has claimed the Cy-Hawk trophy for the last half decade, the Cyclones find themselves four-point underdogs to the 23rd-ranked Hawkeyes.

“We don’t look too much into point spreads,” he said. “We just try to go out there and play. I wasn’t surprised one bit when they were favored.

“They had a great year last year. They have a good team and a good coaching staff.”

When looking at the statistics of the two previous games Iowa played, it’s hard to overlook its suffocating defense.

Against Buffalo, the Hawkeyes held the Bulls under 300 yards of total offense and only yielded seven points. The defensive unit has given up an average of five points in their first two games

“The thing that concerns me the most is their front seven,” Danielsen said. “They’re great defensive linemen.”

Danielsen didn’t forget about the rest of the defense, however.

“Overall their team speed seems to be a lot better this year,” he said.

“Their secondary and their linebackers fly to the ball and they make plays.”

Danielsen said he views this as the biggest game of the year — so far.

“The way that I look at it, [whatever] team that we’re playing that week is the biggest game of the year,” he said. “We should try and take them one game at a time.”

This week, however, is the biggest game of the year for the ISU fans.

McCarney, Danielsen and the rest of the Cyclones should be ready for kickoff at 11:40 a.m. Saturday.