When Lance Young played football at Beaumont High School in St. Louis, Mo., he never had the chance he and his teammates will have this weekend.

“At my high school, we didn’t have lights, so we had to play early in the day,” the ISU wide receiver said.

Iowa State unveils its $500,000 permanent lighting system Saturday night when the Cyclones take on Tennessee Tech at Jack Trice Stadium. For Iowa State, it will be the first of three consecutive night games.

Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.

The consensus among coaches and players is night games are great. It’s all the downtime that is the problem.

“You get kind of antsy waiting around,” Young said. “You’re up early in the day and you just try to pass time. Guys don’t like sitting around all day.”

Young said that after an early morning breakfast among the team, players will get a couple hours of free time to themselves. He said a team meeting is also scheduled for the afternoon.

The junior, who is averaging 29 yards per kickoff return through two games, said he and the rest of the players will probably keep an eye on the Iowa-Miami (Ohio) game.

The Hawkeyes are the Cyclones’ next opponent on Sept. 14.

“Guys will watch the game, but we still have Tennessee Tech coming in here and we’re not going to take them lightly,” he said.

ISU head coach Dan McCarney has said numerous times that he dreads waiting around for a evening kickoff.

However, he said it will be a great atmosphere and should generate some electricity among the players.

“We’ll get a good crowd, and I don’t think there’s any doubt about it and our kids are excited about it,” McCarney said.

“I think we’re 9-4 in the last 13 night games and hopefully we can have some success.”

Offensive guard Bob Montgomery said he loved the look of the brand new scoreboard and video screen Saturday.

He said adding the lights is just one more positive element of the game.

“It’s going to be real electric,” Montgomery said.

“I’m excited to see that scoreboard again it was so nice – and knowing that it’s ours and not somebody else’s.”

Unlike Young, cornerback Atif Austin said the games at night remind him of his younger days.

“In high school, that’s all we did,” Austin said.

“Coming in here and playing a day game, it’s fun and everything, but it’s nothing like playing under the lights and I’m sure everybody on the team is going to be excited.”

Regardless of the atmosphere, Iowa State must face Tennessee Tech and one of the best offensive tackles in NCAA Division I-AA. D.J. Bleisath has 19 career sacks for the Golden Eagles, including 10 last season.

“He’s a quick guy,” Montgomery said.

“I just know he’s had a lot of sacks the last couple years. Anybody that can get 11, 12 sacks in a season is a heck of a player.”

More night games means more television time for the Cyclones. Iowa State’s season opener against Florida State and last weekend’s game against Kansas were both televised.

McCarney said he can already feel the effects the exposure is having on recruiting. He said Sunday was the first time he could speak with potential recruits and most of them have noticed the performance of his team.

“I haven’t talked to any that didn’t see either one or both of those games, so it’s always very good to get that exposure,” McCarney said.