Looking back on Iowa State’s schedule thus far, the Cyclones have already taken on some stout teams.

In fact through the first five games three teams were ranked in the top 25 and one of them is the top team in the Football Championship Subdivision.

That’s four ranked teams through the first five weeks of play, and ISU coach Paul Rhoads has seen how tough it’s been.

“We’ve improved every week, and our level of competition is the highest in college football,” Rhoads said. “We’ve played good football, and we’ve hung in there, but we’ve got to work before we can play. That’s what were doing this week.”

Rhoads isn’t exaggerating when he says the Cyclones have one of the toughest schedules in the country. The combined records of Iowa State’s opponents thus far are 22-3 — the best in the country — and the Jeff Sagarin ratings put Iowa State’s schedule ranking as the second toughest in the nation.

A schedule this tough could be discouraging to players. For lineman Jake Campos, however, it’s not such a bad thing.

“I think it’s great to play those types of teams early because then you get to know what types of teams you have,” Campos said. “Once you’ve played those teams, you know you can play with that type of competition through the whole year. It just shows where you need to be and what you need to do to get better.”

This week the Cyclones will take a step out of Big 12 conference play to take on Toledo. The Mid-American Conference school brings a much different style of play than most Big 12 teams and is currently on a three-game win streak.

Taking a break from Big 12 play is something the team is looking forward to, even though it brings a new challenge.

“It’s a little bit different, a little kink I think,” said quarterback Sam Richardson. “I think this is our first year doing that where we go out of the Big 12 schedule like this. It’ll be a little different, but I don’t think it’ll be too much of a wrinkle for us.”

Iowa State only has two games on its remaining schedule where they face ranked teams. And while it may have reached a turning point in the season, the team says it doesn’t look at the situation that way.

“You can say what you want about the schedule,” Richardson said. “Just the focus right now is kind of Toledo and just pressing on with them. I’m not too worried about what’s ahead. Toledo is all we’re thinking about.”