For the past seven months, Iowa State’s defensive lineman Mitchell Meyers has had a focus that transcends football.

Meyers, a native of The Woodlands, Texas, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma last February. As chemotherapy and classes consumed most of his time, Meyers had to take a step back from the game.

Yet life moves on for the Cyclones, who have been forced to prepare for Saturday’s season opener against the University of Northern Iowa without one of their primary defensive leaders.

But ISU coach Paul Rhoads had a surprise announcement Wednesday for his team. Meyers was coming home.

“We thought he could possibly be back to watch us play [in the first game],” said linebacker and captain Levi Peters, “but to get that reassurance was awesome.”

Meyers, who had been receiving chemotherapy treatment in Ames over the summer, spent the last part of the summer in the Houston area where he has been receiving radiation treatment. Meyers is planning to make the trip up from Houston this weekend to watch Saturday’s game on the sidelines among his team.

Coaches and players alike say the redshirt junior, who registered 30 tackles and started every game for the Cyclones in 2014, had a tremendous impact on the team — especially from a leadership standpoint.

And they can’t wait to have Meyers back on the field, even if it is just as a spectator on the sidelines.

“[He] means so much to this team,” Peters said. “If he was healthy, and he was here right now, he would be making a huge impact. We know how hard it is for him, and we know he’s got our backs still. He’s in Texas, but he’s a Cyclone, and he’s our brother.”

Throughout Meyers’ cancer battle, teammates have continued to praise him, citing him as a huge inspiration for everyone involved with the program. But it may have been one of his roommates, fellow ISU defender Luke Knott, that Meyers has affected the most.

Knott, a linebacker, has had an array of health problems throughout his Cyclone career. Knott suffered a season-ending hip injury that required surgery in 2013, his first year on the field for the Cyclones.

He recovered fairly quickly, though, and was back on the field for Iowa State at the start of last season. He started eight games and was third on the team in tackles, recording 74 total tackles and 37 solo tackles in 2014.

“Obviously I had some pain that started coming up right in the middle of the season last year, and after the season I decided to get it checked out,” Knott said. “I really didn’t want to tell anybody, though. As an athlete, you’re telling yourself that nothing is wrong. I already got that stuff fixed.”

Surgeons were forced to clean up scar tissue on his hip following the 2014 season. Knott continue to feel pain in his hip during the offseason, which sidelined him for the spring game back in April.

And with the hip problem never seeming to disappear, Knott said it really started to mess with his head.

“You start to think to yourself, ‘I’m 21 years old. How many more miles can I put on my hip?’” Knott posed. “Then I decided to say I’m going to give it everything I can until that tire ends up popping I guess, so here I am working through it.”

Through the summer, though, Knott has been with the team every step of the way. Rhoads said he hasn’t missed a practice or any part of fall camp. While Rhoads admits that the injuries significantly affected Knott’s game physically, he noted that a different aspect of his game was much improved.

“He’s not what he was before, but, with that happening to him, I think he’s become a smarter player,” Rhoads said. “I think [Knott] tried to rely on instincts and ability before. And in the process of this happening … he’s got himself where he’s supposed to be sooner rather than relying on his speed to get him to that point later.

“Because of that, I think he’s a better player than he was a year ago.”

Knott has been cleared to play in the season-opener, something Rhoads said was in doubt just a few months ago. When he takes the field, however, Knott said he knows he will have to play smarter than he has in the past.

“I just try to get every advantage that I possibly can,” Knott said. “Going through the hip surgeries that I have … I’d be lying if I said it’s perfectly fine. When that happens, you have to find every edge you possibly can.”

And while there were times the thought of stepping back from football crossed Knott’s mind through his multiple injuries, he said it was Meyers who truly made the difference.

“You start to feel sorry about yourself, about [your] hip, and then you look over to your roommate who is going through a chemo session,” Knott said. “It kind of puts life in perspective.”