When Iowa State was ranked 25th in the final Associated Press poll of 2000, it was the Cyclones’ first appearance in the rankings since 1981.

Northern Illinois waited a lot longer to show up on the national scene.

The Huskies are 3-0 and ranked No. 20 — their first ranking in school history.

Until this year, the Huskies’ only claim to fame was how bad they were, much like the Cyclones of the 1990s.

In fact, Northern Illinois is only a few years removed from a 23-game losing streak, from 1996 to 1998.

Now the red-hot Huskies are scaring the teams that once scared them, having already knocked off two ranked opponents in Maryland and Alabama.

The Huskies are even garnering Heisman Trophy talk about their star senior tailback, Michael “The Burner” Turner.

The city of DeKalb is so Heisman-crazed over him that Turner even has his own brand of hot sauce there.

But Turner said he doesn’t want to get caught up in all the hype.

“My teammates tease me about it a little bit,” Turner said.

“I really don’t pay any attention to it, I just have to go out there and line up and play every week,” he said.

Now that the Huskies are finally seeing some success they are also seeing a rise in fair-weather fans.

“It’s been awhile since DeKalb and this campus have been able to be this excited about something,” said junior quarterback Josh Haldi.

“You find out you had a lot more fans than you thought you did.”

However, the Huskies are Cinderellas no more, and are not going to surprise anyone — especially the Cyclones. But even though the Huskies are being picked to win this weekend, Haldi said being the favorite doesn’t bother him.

“I don’t think that there is any more added pressure,” he said. “What we’ve been through in the first three games, with people saying we were going to get killed by teams like Alabama, I think that adds more pressure.”

Haldi said his team is going to treat this game as though they were underdogs.

“It’s different being the favorite, but we’re going to do the same things that got us to this point and if we do that, things should take care of themselves,” he said.

The main concern for Turner, Haldi and the rest of the NIU offense is a veteran Cyclone defense.

“Their characteristics are a lot like ours on defense,” Turner said.

“They have faster defensive ends and guys that can really move. We’re just going to have to go out there and attack them,” he said.

With the Cyclones having two weeks to practice for this game, Haldi said his team will face a prepared opponent.

“They’ve had two weeks to watch us on film and find out our tendencies, so we’re going to have to play really well,” Haldi said. “Hopefully we can do some things to throw them off a bit.”

On the offensive side of the ball, head coach Joe Novak and senior linebacker Nick Duffy see their main concern in Cyclone quarterback Austin Flynn.

“They lost a great quarterback in Seneca Wallace and they got a youngster [Flynn] who hasn’t played that much, but he’s a lot like [Wallace],” Novak said. “He’s a tremendous athlete.”

Duffy said a key will be making Flynn throw the football — he’s tied with tailback Michael Wagner for the team lead in rushing, with 202 yards.

“We’ve got to be careful and contain him and keep him throwing the ball,” Duffy said.

Despite finally being able to play the role of the favorite, Novak said his team still has to play great to have a chance at beating the Cyclones.

“We’re certainly seeing the talent level of a Big 12 team that’s had a lot of success over the last few years,” Novak said.

“We’re certainly going to have to play our best.”