LINCOLN, Neb. ¢ Nebraska center John Garrison is not about to let the Cornhuskers fall out of the Associated Press top 25 for the first time since October 1981 by losing to Iowa State this Saturday.

He¡ll even guarantee it.

First, we¡re not going to lose this game,Œ he said. I understand that Iowa State is very excited, and they should be. It would be a huge step for them to come out with a win, but I just can¡t see it that way.Œ

The Huskers, ranked No. 20 in the AP poll, have enjoyed 348 consecutive weeks as a Top 25 team in that poll. Take away the three weeks they weren¡t ranked and that streak extends well over 500 weeks, all the way back to 1964.

Garrison, a team captain for Nebraska, is also a little taken back by some sources that list the No. 19 Cyclones as a one point favorite over Nebraska.

To answer honestly, I never thought I¡d see that,Œ Garrison said. It¡s surprising to me and it just shows what good things that they¡ve done in Ames. Their coach has really turned that program around. They¡ve become a force to be reckoned with in the Big 12.Œ

If Garrison seems overly confident, he has the last nine years on his side. Nebraska has won the last nine meetings between the Huskers and Cyclones, including a 48-14 victory last year in Lincoln. Nebraska led 41-0 at halftime in that game. That string of nine straight wins is something I-back Dahrran Diedreck is aware of too.

You can¡t just make a rivalry over one season,Œ he said. We had a big win over them last season. It¡s just that they¡ve been having a really good season so far. They almost beat Florida State and then all the other schools they¡ve played, they¡ve just whooped up on them. It just shows that they¡re a really good football team. They can score a lot of points and stop people from scoring.Œ

Diedreck said the main difference between the game this year and past games is this year¡s game should be more of a toss-up game, not Nebraska favored to win by 20-something points.Œ

Diedreck is confident Nebraska will be able to do what they do best come Saturday ¢ play smash-mouth football.

We think it is going to be a team that we¡ll to be able to run some power football game on and just go right at them with some [isolations] and dives,Œ he said. Hopefully it will work. Florida State did it, and Iowa was able to do it. I think our big boys up front are going to get it done.Œ

Mike Nichols is currently a student at Iowa State and a visiting student at the University of Nebraska. He is employed by the Daily Nebraskan.