All college football teams have a rivalry. Some bigger than others, but every team has a game circled because it means more than just a game.

Iowa State has had Iowa circled ever since the football schedule was released.

The Cy-Hawk battle will continue this upcoming Saturday at 11 a.m. in Jack Trice Stadium.

“It’s our in-state rival,” said Allen Lazard, senior wide receiver. “We’re going to go out there, we’re going to prepare and especially after last year, just the embarrassment that we left on the field at Kinnick Stadium.”

“We just got to go out there with a chip on our shoulder and make sure we bring that trophy back to Ames.”

Last season, Iowa defeated Iowa State 42-3 in Iowa City, the largest margin since 1997. The history of the game dates back through to Oct. 1, 1894. That was the first game between the two as the Cyclones come out with a 12-8 win.

Even though Iowa State won the first game between the rivalries, Iowa has had the upper hand with a 42-22 lead over the past 123 years. Over these 123 years, a tradition has been passed down from Cyclone to Cyclone and Hawkeye to Hawkeye to continue the strong passion between the two Iowa based teams.

“It huge,” said Joel Lanning, Iowa-native and redshirt senior linebacker. “You grow up and all you do is dream about playing in the Iowa, Iowa State game.

“Or you grow up watching it every single year and how competitive it is. And to be a part of it, it’s huge, it’s fun. There’s a lot of excitement going around this week. It’s just awesome.”

Lanning doesn’t remember a particular game during his childhood, but he remembers the back and forth wins in the 2000s. Iowa State won five straight games from 1998-2002, then Iowa would go 6-2 the next eight games.

Fortunately for Lanning, he wasn’t around or old enough to remember the 1980s and 90s because from 1983-97, the Hawkeyes went a perfect 15-0.

“The rivalry piece and the excitement, I think being here a year what I’ve appreciated is the fan bases,” said coach Matt Campbell. “I think that’s the one unique thing about playing here at Iowa State.”

Those team colors, or cardinal and gold and black and yellow, will be scattered around the tailgate lots and in Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday. Throughout this week, most of the Iowa State players and coaches have said it’s going to be a close game because both sides of the ball are dominant for both teams.

The likelihood of this Saturday’s game being as close as the 2-0 games in 1906 and 1910 is very small. The same idea goes along for the blowouts with the biggest margin of victory coming in 1985 when then-No. 3 Iowa won 57-3 in Ames.

“Whoever’s the toughest team that day I feel like is going to win that game,” Lanning said. “It’s one of those games that’s going to go back and forth, there’s going to be a lot of things that are going to happen.

“You got to be able to handle adversity in this game and if you can do that I feel like you’ll be ok.”

There was a stretch of games between 2011-2014 where it battled adversity and the will to win. The biggest margin of victory during that span was six points, while three of the four games finished with a three-point lead.

Iowa State won three of those four games, one at home and the other two in Iowa City.

This season is extra special for Lanning and Lazard because this is the last time they’ll not only host a Cy-Hawk game, but also play in a Cy-Hawk game. They both agreed they’re going to savor this moment on Saturday and take in all the sights and sounds from the fans to their teammates.

Most importantly though, they’re going to leave everything on the field and have zero regrets. They also hope for a 2-0 record going into the third week against Arkon, Ohio.

“Just having all the family and friends here that I grew up with and playing guys I played against in high school,” Lazard said. “This being my last shot, I’m just going to go out there and give it my all.”