The football rivalry between Kansas University and Kansas State isn’t what it used to be.

At least not for KU, which will face K-State in a 1:10 p.m. game Saturday at KSU Stadium in Manhattan. The Jayhawks lead the all-time series 61-34-5, but the Wildcats have won the last 10 in a row.

Former coach Glen Mason arrived at KU in 1988 and had a one-year headstart on K-State coach Bill Snyder.

Mason won four of his first five games against KSU before Snyder closed the gap.

Kansas won the 1992 game in Lawrence, 31-7, and set a school record by limiting the Wildcats to minus-56 yards rushing.

But Snyder’s squad won, 10-9, a year later in Manhattan and claimed a 21-13 victory in 1994 in Lawrence. K-State fans tore down the goalposts in Memorial Stadium after that televised Thursday night game.

“In my early years there it was a big game,” said KU coach Mark Mangino, who was on Snyder’s staff from 1991 to 1998. “We got pumped up for it at K-State. It was a big game that was truly a rivalry. Then as K-State started to get better and better, we started to win the game with regularity.

“It started to be a game that was a little bit of a rivalry, but there were other games we felt we needed to win if we were going to have a chance to compete for championships. It lost its luster a little; there’s no question about it. What we are trying to do here at KU is do our part to make it a good in-state rivalry. We have to hold our end of the bargain up.”

The Jayhawks haven’t done that in years. Even in 1995, when both teams were ranked in the top-25, the Wildcats pummeled the Jayhawks, 41-7, at Manhattan.

That began a stretch of eight straight blowouts, in which KSU outscored KU 387-69. K-State has scored 40 or more points in seven of the last eight games and 50 or more in four of the last five.

KU coach Mark Mangino thanks fans for coming prior to Saturday's homecoming game against Baylor. KU, which won 28-21, will play Saturday at Kansas State.

Former KU coach Terry Allen never beat the Wildcats in five seasons.

Last year, Mangino’s first, marked the nadir in a series that dates back to 1902. No. 14 Kansas State hammered the Jayhawks, 64-0, at Memorial Stadium.

Pick a glaring stat, any glaring stat:

• The loss ranked as the third worst in KU history, was the Jayhawks’ biggest loss ever to Kansas State and ranked as the largest margin of victory in the series.
• It also marked the most points allowed by Kansas since a 71-10 loss to Oklahoma in 1987.
• The shutout was K-State’s first against Kansas since 1955.
• KSU’s 43-0 halftime lead marked the most points surrendered by KU in one period since Nebraska led Kansas, 49-10, at halftime in 1988.

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• Kansas matched a Big 12 Conference record by losing five fumbles and had a total of seven turnovers.

Snyder, however, said the Wildcats still considered the Sunflower Showdown a big game.

“How serious do they take the ball game? As serious as they take any game that they play,” Snyder said Monday during the Big 12 teleconference. “How motivated have they been to play the game year in and year out? As motivated as you can be for any ballgame. It hasn’t been apparent to me that there has been any kind of letdown or any lack of focus on preparation for a football game with the University of Kansas.”

Saturday’s game will mark the first time since 1995 that Kansas (5-2 overall, 2-1 Big 12) will enter the game with a better record than Kansas State (5-3, 1-2).

That hasn’t changed the way most people view the rivalry. Kansas State was installed as a 20 1/2-point favorite.

While KU fans would like some payback after 10 straight losses, Mangino’s motives are far different.

“Just because I’m the coach at Kansas, in no way, shape or form does that mean that I have a dislike for Kansas State or feel an overwhelming need to defeat them,” he said Saturday after KU’s 28-21 victory over Baylor. “I want to go down there and play well and win because it’s important for our program.

“I had eight wonderful years at Kansas State as an assistant coach. I got a chance to be part of what is arguably the best turnaround in college football history. I met some great people. I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings, but some people from Manhattan were sitting in our box today watching the game with my wife. We have a lot of friends there, people we really care about.”

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A&M kickoff set: KU’s game against Texas A&M will start at 12:30 p.m. Nov. 1 at College Station, Texas, and won’t be televised.