Marv Seiler’s life is returning to normal.

He’s settled in Johnston, Iowa with his wife, Laura, and seven-year-old daughter Regan. He’s happily employed as a computer programmer for Des Moines’ ITA Group. He visits his in-laws in Ames a few times a month and he was just returning from a mundane trip to the grocery store when he was reached at home by telephone.

What happened in Ames Nov. 14, 1992 is still in his mind, though. It comes up sometimes. Every once in a while, he said, a co-worker or passerby will do a double-take and say, “Aren’t you the guy…”

Nobody questioned who “the guy” was three years ago. For about three hours on a sunny football Saturday – known in Ames as the second coming – the whole nation knew Marv Seiler.

Seiler, then a fifth-year senior quarterback who had never started a game, was nothing short of brilliant in a 19-10 win over No. 7 Nebraska. Seiler had 31 yards on 51 carries going into the game. He left Cyclone Stadium that day having carried the ball 24 times for 144 yards, including a 78-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Seiler threw the ball, too — kind of. He completed three of four attempts, all shuttle passes.

Cyclone fans remember that day and Seiler with a smile. It was the day for the underdog, the day when the mighty Cornhusker fell. It was only the second time in ISU’s century-old football history that the Cyclones have beaten a team ranked so high.

And they did it in no uncertain terms, by charging head on, running right at Goliath. ISU rushed for 373 yards — the most against a Nebraska team in its previous 60 games — and dominated the clock, only letting the Tommie Frazier-led Nebraska offense on the field for about 23 minutes. That was the key.

“You’ve got to control the ball,” Seiler said. “You can’t let [Nebraska] touch it.”

Other advice? “Luck,” he said. “There’s always that.”

Needless to say, Seiler was awarded the game ball, which he said he only breaks out for special occasions.

But you can’t relive the past, as Seiler said he knows. There are new challenges, Saturday’s ISU-Nebraska clash in the Cornhusker home den being the most immediate. So the big question for the legendary Seiler, the only man who may actually know, is: Could it happen again?

And, as if he removed all doubt, Seiler said … Maybe. “You never know. They could do it again. Everyone has a chance on a given day.

“They’re improved. They look a lot better offensively … and Troy Davis. What else can you say? He’s a one-man offense right there,” he said.

Seiler, who said he would cast his fictitious Heisman Trophy vote for Davis, has been impressed with new coach Dan McCarney and his staff. McCarney, he said, is an “intense” coach who will eventually spit out winning teams in Ames.

But Seiler, a 1993 ISU graduate in management, doesn’t have season tickets to Cyclone home games. He said he hasn’t been out of school long enough to be able to spend that kind of money on football. He has, however, made it back twice this season for the Iowa and Colorado games.

As a “faithful alum,” Seiler thought upsets may have been brewing.

“I had hope,” he said. ISU took an early fourth-quarter lead over Colorado but fell 50-28 Oct. 21. The Cyclones lost to Iowa Sept. 16, 27-10.

Though he’ll catch Saturday’s game on the radio, Seiler won’t be making the trip to Lincoln, Neb. He didn’t say why. Maybe he’s still running from the Cornhuskers. Maybe he doesn’t know the way to Nebraska. Maybe he’s got laundry to do. Maybe he’s planning to be sick.

Or maybe, just maybe, he’s afraid one or two large Nebraska fans will do one of those double-takes, saying “Aren’t you the guy … You’re on our turf this time.”