Iowa State coach Gene Chizik waits to walk onto the field for the season opener Aug. 30 in Ames, Iowa. The Cyclones are 0-2.

Ames, Iowa ? Iowa State coach Gene Chizik has been involved in some of college football’s biggest rivalries, like Clemson-South Carolina, Alabama-Auburn and Texas-Oklahoma.

He’ll get his first taste of Iowa-Iowa State on Saturday, and star wide receiver Todd Blythe says Chizik will finally get to see just how much this matchup means to the coaches, players and fans on each side.

“It’s probably just as heated as anything that he’s ever been in,” Blythe said. “This rivalry is so much fun to be a part of, and I’m so glad that I’ve been a part of four of these.”

Of course, the Cyclones have a lot of work to do if they want to enjoy the latest installment of the state’s biggest sporting event. Iowa State is 0-2 after home losses to Kent State and Northern Iowa, and will enter Saturday’s matchup with Iowa as a heavy underdog.

Chizik said the Cyclones have to focus more on improving themselves than worrying about the opponent, even though the hype surrounding this rivalry will be tough to ignore.

“We’ve got to concentrate on us, and getting better at what we do,” Chizik said. “We are on a quest for making us better. Until we get ourselves better, the opponent doesn’t matter because everybody we play from now on is going to be really good.”

Iowa State’s first order of business will be trying to shore up its languid offense. The Cyclones rank 106th in the nation – and last among Big 12 teams – with just 13.5 points a game.

It’s been equal opportunity ineptitude for the Cyclones. They rank near the bottom of the conference in both the running and passing game.

“The lack of touchdowns all the way around, whether its passing or running, is a source of frustration for us right now. We’ve got to put more points on the board than 13, 14 points. That’s not going to win us a whole lot of games. It’s putting our defense in a real difficult spot,” Blythe said.

Predictably, the sluggish start has put an added focus on senior quarterback Bret Meyer, whose numbers have declined since the start of last season.

Meyer, the school’s leader for career touchdown passes, passing yards and total offense, started his career with 29 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in his first 24 games. Since then he has thrown just 13 touchdown passes against 16 picks, and the Cyclones are 4-10 during that stretch.

Meyer was even replaced by his heir apparent, redshirt freshman Austen Arnaud, for one series during last Saturday’s loss to Northern Iowa, of the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division 1-AA).

Arnaud figures to get more work as the season progresses. That’s not a reflection of Meyer’s play, but rather an effort to get Arnaud some game experience in preparation for his likely ascension to the starting job in 2008. In fact, Chizik says he saw some positives in the passing game last week, as receivers R.J Sumrall and Marquis Hamilton each had a career-high seven catches and Meyer was only sacked once.

Iowa State was forced to throw the ball more often than it would like against Northern Iowa, after falling behind 24-6.

“We got the ball to different guys,” Chizik said. “I think there was definitely some improvement in the downfield passing game.”

Iowa State has always made the Iowa game a focal point of its season, and this year is no different. The school made tickets to the game available only as part of a season-ticket package – save for the 4,000 allotted to Iowa – and the team will wear throwback uniforms to honor the 1977 Peach Bowl squad.

Chizik wants his players thinking more about improving than the fact that they will be hosting their biggest rival, but he doesn’t want them to turn their backs on the excitement this week will generate, either.

“Rivalries are really fun. That’s what makes college football great,” Chizik said. “This week, our approach is that I want these guys to have fun and enjoy the moment.”