ISU holder Austin Fischer and kicker Cole Netten walk side by side out onto the gridiron, the daunting expanse of Jack Trice Stadium stretched to the sky all around them.

The walk is silent, except, of course, for the 60,000-some screaming football fans flooding the stadium with cardinal and gold.

As they reach the spot where the field goal will be attempted, Netten prepares to line up while Fischer starts the routine that he and Netten, friends since second grade, have perfected throughout the years.

Before the play, Netten puts his foot exactly where he wants the ball placed when he attempts the field goal. Fischer obliges and plucks half a handful of white-painted grass from the soil — cut up due to the constant pounding of 250-pound players in cleats. He places the blades right on the crease created under the weight of Netten’s shoe.

This is the spot.

Fischer gets in the crouch and readies his hands for the ball. His mind goes blank. So blank he remembers nothing when trying to recall the snap and Netten’s foot making contact with the ball.

But it doesn’t matter, because Fischer knows where Netten likes the ball — just at the right angle with laces out — and he does his job with subconscious precision.

Where his memory picks up is when the ball begins its ascension into the air.

As the ball, spinning end over end, sails through the uprights, right down the middle, Fischer feels overwhelming excitement flooding every limb of his body, forcing him to close his fist and pump — or as Netten argues, punch — while jumping in the air.

That excitement, nothing new to people who know him, is just one part of Fischer’s zealous attitude. Fischer can be seen after a mere extra point throwing his fist in the air in celebration. It fits perfectly with his motto, J.U.I.C.E — Jacked Up Intensity, Contagious Enthusiasm.

“I just get stoked,” Fischer said. “Looking at [Netten] putting it through the uprights, that just adds to it and being on the field is a pretty amazing feeling in itself.”

Growing up in Ankeny, Iowa, Fischer and Netten played against each other in different sports, attending different elementary schools. Fischer gravitated toward baseball, known for an arm that could blow the ball by almost anybody, but still competed in football in high school.

Fischer held for Netten the last two years of his high school career, creating a friendship that would give Fischer an opportunity in the future he wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Fischer decided to go a different route after high school. He stuck with baseball, attending Marshalltown Community College, where he pitched for two years. He led his team to the regional finals, eventually falling to Iowa Western.

But something inside was calling him back to football. A literal call came from his former high school coach, bringing up the possibility of Fischer holding for Netten, who had become the starting kicker for the Cyclones.

Fischer didn’t have to think twice.

“I left in a heartbeat,” Fischer said.

Despite Fischer’s wishes to play baseball professionally someday, he couldn’t pass up a chance to play college football with his lifetime friend.

“I can always go back to play baseball, but you only have one chance to play college football,” Fischer said.

And the ISU football team is happy he did.

Fischer makes it a point everyone in the locker room has a positive attitude. Considering the disappointing two-win season in 2014, that task wasn’t the easiest.

His positive attitude rubs off on some of the other players, and even if it doesn’t, Fischer still tries to keep the spirits high.

“I’d like to think [my positivity rubs off on players],” Fischer said. “If not, I would go out of my way to make sure everybody stays up and nobody is just down on themselves.”

Other teammates who interact with Fischer in the locker room and on the sideline realize the importance of the role Fischer plays day in and day out.

“I think we need more guys like that,” Netten said. “Very positive attitude, confident and it helps pump up the team. We need more people on the sideline like that to help out because he likes to be out there.”

The enthusiasm doesn’t come without a price. After his celebration, Fischer receives a few funny looks from opposing players. And he does get a bit of grief from his teammates.

But that doesn’t matter to ISU head coach Paul Rhoads. Even though the success can be small, celebration should always be commended.

“I’m a guy who coaches with intensity and enthusiasm, and I love to see it out of the kids as well,” Rhoads said. “I think anytime you have the opportunity to celebrate success, it can bleed and be contagious.”

Fischer’s post-field goal antics have landed him a spot on ESPN GameDay — the Saturday morning show previewing the day’s college football games — on its segment, #YouHadOneJob. He was shown in the first clip of the highlights fist pumping after an extra point against Iowa on Sept. 5.

While in a hotel room in Toledo, Ohio, on Sept. 19, preparing for that night’s game against the Rockets, Netten screamed to Fischer in the bathroom.

“Fischer, get out here, you’re on TV!” Netten said.

Fischer rushed out and saw himself doing the signature celebration. His first reaction was one of excitement. After all, he was donning the ISU colors on national TV.

“It’s kind of a dream growing up,” Fischer said. “Any football player wants to be on GameDay. You spend 18 years of your life watching that. It also got some national publicity for Iowa State, and I’m all for that.”

Maybe ESPN wasn’t commending him, but instead poking fun at the over-enthusiastic player from central Iowa.

“First off, I was like, ‘That’s awesome!’” Fischer said. “Then, going back, they’re probably making fun of me. It’s alright, though.”

That same night, Netten missed a field goal that would’ve won the game for Iowa State in the closing seconds. That’s when Fischer’s instincts kicked in.

A clearly upset Netten saw Fischer come up to him immediately after the miss.

“I put my arm around him and [told] him I love him,” Fischer said. “The sun will come up tomorrow regardless.”

Whether the consolation had a direct effect on Netten — and Fischer wouldn’t have it any other way — Netten managed to put the miss out of his mind. He recovered and booted his next field goal to put Iowa State ahead in overtime.

But it isn’t like Fischer didn’t want the field goal to go through. He wanted it more than anything else at that moment. If the ball did split the uprights, the familiar feeling of overwhelming excitement would’ve again flooded his body.

“A new animal would’ve come out of me,” Fischer said. “I’d like to think that I can control [the reactions], but I probably couldn’t. And I don’t want to.”