The November afternoon gives way to evening and darkness.

This signals reporters within a 50-mile radius of the Richard O. Jacobson Building to convene there and gather facts and quotes from athletes, some of whom will don a Cyclone jersey for a short time more.

The seniors on this team are questioned often. And for good reason.

Since coming to a program that some friends of the seniors viewed hapless and others viewed hopeless, this senior class turned one of the greatest about-faces of any program in the history of the game.

Iowa State will go to a bowl game this winter for the first time in 22 years.

Last week’s win against Colorado brought an abrupt end to the 16-game losing streak against the Buffs that the Cyclones have endured.

It was the longest in school history.

And if the Cyclones are able to grasp their hands around a bowl trophy in the coming month, the nine wins (pending a win against Kansas) will represent the highest win mark since the 1904 team finished 9-2.

Saturday, 22 seniors are playing their last game on the familiar 120 yards of Jack Trice Stadium.

Eight of them play on the offensive side of the ball.

Since the Troy Davis era, points have been put on the board without a terrible amount of difficulty.

This year, the first without a 28 in the backfield, some fans were left sweating over who would step forward and lead.

On Saturdays, it has been by committee.

Seniors Sage Rosenfels, J.J. Moses and Chris Anthony have been given a nod of respect from their critics.

But as Moses said “there’s not one playmaker on this team. There’re many.”

It was redshirt freshmen Lane Danielson who caught the game-winning ball against Oklahoma State five weeks ago.

Still, Monday through Friday, the team is guided by its elders.

“The seniors have led the turn-around,” said ISU head coach Dan McCarney.

“Our attitude,” Rosenfels said, “is what has improved the most. The never-say-die belief on game day is born on the practice field during the week.”

All the “blood, sweat and tears,” Moses remarked, that the senior class has laid out on the practice field for the past five years is finally paying off.

“But,” he added, “we haven’t played our best football yet.”

Moses has thrived in many games this year.

His 741 receiving yards this season ranks him sixth on the all-time single-season list at Iowa State.

The 81 catches that he has collected over his career places him tenth on the all-time Cyclone charts.

And his 50 receptions this season is the most for a Cyclone since Ty Watley in 1997.

Rosenfels did not come to Iowa State to be “the doormat of the [Big 12] Conference.” But he has provided so much more over the last few years.

Saturday, he will add to his 3,993 career passing yards, with the possibility of overcoming David Archer and the No. 3 spot on the all-time yardage chart.

Sage has found receivers for touchdowns 19 times as a Cyclone, good enough for the eighth spot all-time.

And his 2,127 passing yards this season places him fifth on the all-time single-season list.

Victory or no, Saturday, 22 seniors can walk off the field proudly.

They can boast a winning record for the first time since 1989 and the first bowl appearance since 1978.

The 2000 season is something senior right guard Ben Beaudet is “very proud of.”

“I’m going to tell my kids and grandkids about it,” he added.