At Saturday’s post-game press conference, ISU Head Football Coach Dan McCarney didn’t have much time to discuss the Cyclones victory over UNLV before fielding questions about the upcoming showdown with rival Iowa. The Cyclones travel to Iowa City Saturday to take on the Hawkeyes for the 48th time in the long history between the intrastate rivals. The Cyclones have won the last two meetings in the series after losing the previous 15 and are a slight favorite to make it three-in-a-row, but McCarney isn’t taking anything for granted. “I know that it’s going to be a hornet’s nest over there (Iowa City) and we got to do all we can to make sure our team improves this week, and they’re ready to play,” McCarney said. The Cyclones have started this season on a strong note with two victories. The Cyclones defeated Ohio University, 25-15 in the season opener before the 37-22 win over the Rebels Saturday. McCarney recognizes that the rivalry is a heated one and his team needs to be ready to go in all areas. “All I’m going to do is ask my kids to improve this week and go in there as physically and mentally tough as we’ve ever been since I’ve been here. That’s the kind of effort it’s going to take to have a chance to win the game. It’s going to be a super tough game, no doubt it, and we’re just glad it’s a rivalry again,” McCarney said. One question that was asked at Saturday’s press conference was whether the Cyclones could have been looking past UNLV to the Iowa game. McCarney strongly denied any thinking of that sort by his players or coaches and pointed to the fact that the Cyclones built a 27-6 halftime lead over the Rebels as proof. “Absolutely not, not one coach or player, not any chance of that. I think if you saw the way we came out to play in the first quarter, you could tell that we weren’t thinking of anything except for UNLV,” McCarney said. “The kids have done a good job with not looking ahead so far this season, and it’s my job that we do that the rest of the season.” While the Cyclones are off to a fast start, the Hawkeyes have struggled to an 0-2 start. The Hawkeyes have losses to Kansas State and Western Michigan. “I don’t think that’s going to be good for us, Iowa will definitely be swarming next week. They’re [Iowa] is going to be ripping and roaring to get ready for this game and that certainly doesn’t help our preparation. The kids understand that Iowa will play hard and if they don’t understand that then we will make sure to tell them,” said ISU Associate Head Coach Bobby Elliott. ISU quarterback Sage Rosenfels led the Cyclones to last year’s 17-10 win over the Hawkeyes. This year Rosenfels has a simple goal for the game. “I just want to go out and win. That’s it – plain and simple. Just win the game,” Rosenfels said.