Ames, Iowa ? Times certainly have changed for Iowa State football coach Dan McCarney.

McCarney has gone from having a fan spit in his face after a lopsided loss to having fans mob his ninth-ranked team in adoration.

“It’s amazing,” McCarney said Tuesday. “We came over there across the street the other day and we literally almost can’t even get to the building now, there’s so many people out there.”

That was the scene before Iowa State’s 31-17 victory against Texas Tech last Saturday. It reminded McCarney of a scene at another game in 1997, a 56-10 loss at Wyoming.

“We were so bad,” said McCarney, whose team was 1-10 that season. “The game was delayed because of the weather. It should have been canceled because of the weather the way we played. I started coming off the field afterward and this guy got right in my face.

“He was screaming. He was spitting in my face with his screaming. He yelled, ‘Don’t you know anything?’ The old Yogi Berra thing popped in my head. ‘Sir, I’ll be honest with you, I don’t even suspect anything.'”

McCarney admitted it looked as if he didn’t know anything that day. It certainly doesn’t look that way anymore.

The Cyclones (6-1, 3-0 Big 12) are in the Top 10 for the first time ever, their confidence grows with each victory and they have a chance for a huge win when they play at No. 2 Oklahoma on Saturday.

Getting to this point hasn’t been easy. McCarney was 13-42 in his first five seasons and even he wasn’t entirely sure if he’d keep his job.

“I didn’t come into the office feeling threatened about my job,” he said. “But to sit here and say I felt 100 percent that they were going to stick with me, I don’t know if that’s very accurate.”

Now the question is whether Iowa State can keep him.

If Iowa State keeps winning that will be difficult facing four Top 25 teams on the road in the next five weeks McCarney is sure to attract the attention of any big-time school looking for a coach.

McCarney insisted he doesn’t think about that possibility.

“I don’t address it. I don’t go to bed at night talking to my wife about it,” he said. “I’m just real honest with you, I don’t. I love this place.”