The Iowa State football record books were thrown out the window Saturday as the Cyclones trampled the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Runnin’ Rebels, 57-30.

Sophomore tailback Troy Davis broke his own single game rushing record of 291 yards from the Ohio game with a 302-yard performance on 36 attempts against UNLV. He also tied the school record of five touchdowns and 30 points set by Joe Henderson against Kansas in 1988.

“The linemen were on top of their blocks,” Davis said. “It was real fun to go out there and just have a track meet.”

Davis now has 912 rushing yards — the best ever by a Cyclone running back after four games. He is also still the nation’s rushing leader.

Davis had the longest runs of the season after a 66-yard touchdown scamper in the second quarter and then a longer 80-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half — but that record-breaker only stayed on the books until the end of the third quarter.

Davis was taken out of the game with 5:39 to go in the third quarter and second-string tailback Graston Norris was given the nod.

He responded with a record-breaking touchdown run that went for 91 yards. The run was the second longest in school history. The longest was a 98-yarder by Meredith Warner in 1943.

“I just hit the corner and I felt a big hole there,” Norris said. “I saw the guy coming and I just cut back on him and just ran — ran into the end zone.”

Holes like that in UNLV’s defense helped the Cyclone running backs total a record 586 yards rushing. The previous record was 445 yards set against Colorado State in 1980.

“I could’ve went to the left; I could’ve went to the right; I could’ve went straight ahead, that’s how big they were,” Davis said.

“I was ready to go the whole game,” he added. “I had to give Jahi Arnold and Graston Norris a chance. They came out there and continued on the same pace I had.”

Norris had 128 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries and Arnold had 11 carries for 90 yards. As a team, the Cyclones had eight rushing touchdowns, breaking the record of six against Kansas State in 1976. The team’s average of 8.4 yards per rush topped the record of 7.3 against Dubuque in 1949.

When Davis came out of the game, he said he told starting fullback Rodney Guggenheim on the sidelines that he had the longest run for the season — then he turned to the field.

“I came to the sidelines and I told Gugg [Rodney Guggenheim] that a new record is set; I got 80. Then the players go running down the line. Norris had broke a long one, too,” Davis said. “Norris came to the sidelines and said, ‘I got the record now.’ “

Davis is now in an elite group of Big Eight running backs after his 302-yard performance. Only six Big Eight backs have ever topped 300 yards rushing in a single game. The most yards rushing ever in a game was by Tony Sands of Kansas in 1991 against Missouri with 396 yards, also the NCAA Division I record

The Cyclones broke all of the rushing records with a musical chair offensive line. Senior guard Mark Konopka never played because of a knee injury sustained in the Iowa game. Patrick Augafa, who had been playing guard, moved to center and sophomore Matt Rahfaldt took Augafa’s position. Junior Doug Easley went to Konopka’s spot.

“We really don’t miss a beat and I think that says a lot about our being close as a unit,” said Tim Kohn, a junior offensive tackle. “I seem to remember Sporting News saying the line is a mess. We took that as a challenge.”

When Davis and the Heisman Trophy were mentioned in the same sentence, the nation’s leading rusher would only talk about the team.

“I don’t think about the Heisman really,” Davis said. “I’m thinking about winning games.”

The Cyclone defense was also in full force Saturday. ISU’s defense held Rebel running back Shannon Wilson, who ranked 16th nationally with 135 yards rushing per game, to 20 yards