With spring practice in its final week, the Iowa State football team is busy smashing helmets and cracking shoulder pads — striving for a brighter 1998.

The dismal, injury-plagued 1997 season that ended with a 1-10 record (1-7 in Big 12) has long since passed, and Coach Dan McCarney’s squad has already benefited from positive happenings both on and off campus this year.

The Cyclones’ winter conditioning program, under the guidance of strength and conditioning Coach Matt McGettigan, produced many notable off-season gains in size and strength.

McCarney and McGettigan had altered the program from previous years by focusing less on conditioning and more on gaining strength and quickness.

“I don’t know if we’re playing better, but we look better than we have since I’ve been here,” McCarney said about his defense at a recent cold and rainy practice.

“Physically, those kids have really developed. There’s more speed, there’s more athleticism.”

One of the strength program’s many success stories is sophomore defensive tackle James Reed.

Reed, who is ISU’s leading returning tackler, recently broke a Cyclone record by squatting 713 pounds. He also has benched 450 pounds and been clocked under 4.6 seconds in the 40-yard dash.

Reed said, “I’m focusing [this spring] on more pass-rush moves and running moves. I didn’t have the size last year, and now I got a little bit heavier so I can work on more pass rush.”

Improvements in strength, size and quickness are key for the entire squad if the Cyclones are to compete with physical Big 12 opponents such as Nebraska and Kansas State.

“We got more depth. We’re bigger, faster; we should be better as a defense,” said sophomore defensive end Reggie Hayward.

In addition to beefing up players currently in the program, the Cyclones inked a nationally-recognized recruiting class in February that includes 18 junior college players.

After fielding the Big 12’s most inexperienced team in 1997 — which featured 16 freshmen on the two-deep roster — the junior transfers will be counted on to make immediate impacts.

Only two new recruits are currently practicing with the team — cornerback Jeff Waters from Los Angeles Southwest Community College and middle linebacker Lynn Hadnot from Blinn [Texas] Junior College.

Waters and Hadnot are currently listed as second-teamers and already are gaining respect from their teammates and coaches.

“They’re a great group, great personality,” Hayward said. “They come in and work hard and give everything they got. They come in with great talent, speed and quickness, and they’re trying their hardest to get a spot on this team.”

Twenty-three other recruits are expected to join the squad in the fall, including highly-touted quarterback Ben Dougherty from Elma, Wash., offensive lineman David Knapp from Ames and a quartet of talented junior college wide receivers.

Despite the much-anticipated arrival of the new recruits, the current Cyclones aren’t just sitting around this spring, waiting for them to arrive.

“We’re not waiting on anybody,” senior starting quarterback Todd Bandhauer emphatically said.

“I think it comes as a reality check to some of these guys that their positions aren’t completely intact and set in stone. You need to work hard every day to earn your position.”

McCarney also said his squad can’t worry about the recruiting class. Instead, it must focus on improving what is already in place during the spring season.

“We’ve gotta evaluate and teach and bring these kids [on campus now] along. There’s no assurance or guarantee that all those [recruits] will be with us in the fall. We hope they will be, but they have to take care of their obligations on their end,” McCarney said.

Since March 25, the Cyclones have practiced twice in shorts and 10 times in full pads on the practice field south of the Lied Recreation Athletic Center.

Just two practices remain before Saturday’s annual spring game, which kicks off at 3 p.m. in Jack Trice Stadium.

The Cyclones open the 1998 regular season at home on Sept. 5 against the Texas Christian Horned Frogs.