Several Iowa State players met with the media Tuesday to discuss last Saturday’s win over Northern Iowa and to preview next Saturday’s game against the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Here are a couple of the biggest story lines this week.

Lazard re-writing the record book

Late in Iowa State’s victory over the Panthers last Saturday, senior wide receiver Allen Lazard snagged passes on two consecutive plays to tie, and then break the Iowa State career record for receptions.

Lazard’s 177th catch broke Todd Blythe’s (2004-07) record that stood for a decade.

Blythe raved about Lazard last April when he returned to Ames for the spring football game.

“I’m a big fan of his,” Blythe said. “He can do some things I couldn’t do, that’s for sure. He’s a special player and he’s a great kid.

“If he was an idiot I wouldn’t want him to break my records, but he’s a good kid so he can have them.”

Lazard said he and Blythe messaged each other after the game last Saturday. Blythe gave him “just a small congrats,” before the two talked about the upcoming game against Iowa.

The next record on the horizon for Lazard is Blythe’s career receiving yards record. Lazard needs 570 more yards to break that, which should take 4-6 games based on Lazard’s production over the last year.

It’s unlikely that Lazard will match Blythe’s career touchdowns record. Blythe scored 31 touchdowns in his four seasons at Iowa State, whereas Lazard currently sits at 16.

Iowa natives get ready for the Cy-Hawk showdown

Several prominent players on both rosters are from the state of Iowa. For the Cyclones, that list includes Lazard, redshirt senior linebacker Joel Lanning, and redshirt senior offensive tackle Jake Campos.

All three have played against Iowa before, so the nerves and jitters that come with playing an in-state rival won’t be new. However, Iowa has won three of the past four games played between the two rivals, including each of the last two games.

“This is my fifth year,” Lanning said. “We’ve played them four times, we’ve only beat them one time. Whoever is the toughest team that day is going to win that game.”

Iowa State hasn’t taken down the Hawkeyes since Cole Netten’s game-winning field goal in 2014 that gave the Cyclones a 20-17 victory at Kinnick Stadium. Lazard caught five passes for 53 yards in that game, both game-highs in a low-scoring contest.

While they’re all trying to prepare like any other week, the sting of last year’s 42-3 defeat in Iowa City is still fresh on the minds of every player.

“The way things have gone, we’ve kind of deserved [to lose],” Lanning said. “Last year we made mistakes and they took advantage of it. They put it to us and we deserved it.”