Ames, Iowa ? If Iowa State was ever going to succeed in football, coach Dan McCarney knew he had to have good players from his own state.

Beating Iowa in each of the last five years has helped McCarney get them.

McCarney understands a recruit isn’t going to choose between Iowa and Iowa State solely on who wins the game between the two.

But he also knows his in-state recruiting has picked up since the Cyclones turned the series into a rivalry again after 15 straight victories by Iowa.

“When you’re building a program, you have to have a cause,” McCarney said. “Our cause has been to get somebody around America, starting here in the state of Iowa, to respect Cyclone football. To do that, you better start getting some of those players that Iowa or anybody else wants from around the country.”

Ten former Iowa high school players will start for the Cyclones in today’s home game with Iowa, including all five offensive linemen.

“When you see the lineup we have with a lot of Iowa kids, had we been losing the last five years and the streak went to 20, could we have gone to bowl games? I don’t think so,” McCarney said. “Could we have had a chance to win 16 of our last 21 games at home without good Iowa kids? I don’t think so. So it does impact it.”

Iowa still gets it share of in-state players. Three of the Hawkeyes’ starting offensive linemen are from the state, including tackle Robert Gallery, a likely first-round NFL draft pick.

But in recent years, McCarney has been able to sign Iowa players such as Tyson Smith, Casey Shelton, Seth Zehr, Todd Blythe, Milan Moses and Aaron Brant, a true freshman who starts at offensive guard.

“Being able to beat Iowa has really helped them,” recruiting analyst Tom Lemming said. “I know it did a year ago. They signed four of the top six players in the state.”

That’s no surprise to Ben Bruns, an offensive lineman at Iowa State from 1997-2000.

“I feel like Iowa State’s the premier program and that kids should want to come here because we play in the Big 12,” Bruns said.