AMES, Ia – Even a Papa John’s pizza for the bus ride home couldn’t hide the disappointment on the faces of the NIU football team Saturday.

After recovering from an early 13-point deficit, the Huskies crumbled in the fourth quarter, blowing a two-touchdown lead and eventually losing the game 48-41 in front of 39,902 fans at Jack Trice Stadium. The 41 points were the most scored in a loss in NIU history.

“I felt like we let this one get away,” NIU running back A.J. Harris said. “We need to keep this stuck in our heads to keep us motivated. I think we played really well, but in the end they just outplayed us.”

The rematch of last year’s game proved to be a game of runs, and the Cyclones (2-1) got the better of the Huskies (1-2), finishing with a late 28-0 run to avenge last season’s 24-16 loss at Huskie Stadium.

The game went all downhill for NIU after a 9-yard touchdown catch by Shatone Powers gave the Huskies a 14-point lead with 7:05 left in the third quarter.

A turning point in the game came with five minutes left in the third, after the Huskies took over at the ISU 30-yard line.

Up 14 and looking to add to their lead, the Huskies decided to go for the end zone on the first play of the drive. NIU quarterback Phil Horvath, who again filled in for the injured Josh Haldi, who is nursing a stress fracture in his foot, rolled out to his right and tried to hit receiver Sam Hurd who was covered in the end zone. The pass sailed well-off the intended target and into the hands of Cyclones’ defender Nik Moser, giving ISU the ball at its own 20-yard line with 4:45 remaining in the third.

“That was a bad play by me,” Horvath said. “I was trying to throw it to Sam [Hurd], and it was a bad decision. I should have just thrown it away.”

The Cyclones did not score on the ensuing drive, but kept the game close by stopping the Huskies.

Later in the quarter, ISU blocked one of the Huskies’ punts, which was recovered by LaMarcus Hicks in the end zone to cut the Huskies lead to 34-26 heading into the fourth quarter. That was the first of four consecutive scores by the Cyclones.

“They definitely got some momentum going, but our defense stepped up,” ISU quarterback Brett Meyer said. “All around, we just kept battling back. Last year we would have had trouble with a game like this, but you can see the changes over the past year.”

The next five NIU possessions ended in a punt, an interception, two turnovers-on-downs and another interception. ISU scored touchdowns on its two possessions after the blocked punt and returned a Horvath interception for a touchdown to give them a 48-34 lead with 19 seconds remaining.

Harris left the game late in the fourth quarter when he dislocated his right shoulder after being tackled. NIU coach Joe Novak said he was concerned with the injury, but after the game, Harris said he had it popped back in the socket and he felt no pain.

Starting defensive tackle Eric Pittman hurt his right knee and Novak said he expects him to miss significant time.

NIU scored again with no time remaining on a 42-yard touchdown pass from Horvath to Dan Sheldon.

Horvath finished the third game of his NIU career 20-of-33 for 285 yards passing, four touchdowns and four costly interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns.

“I put this all on me,” Horvath said. “We were playing pretty good, and I just made mistakes. I can throw for one yard, and if we win I’m happy, but I threw four interceptions. You’re not going to win with four interceptions.”

Redshirt freshman wide receiver Todd Blythe finished the game with three touchdowns on four catches for the Cyclones. Blythe has five touchdowns in the first three games of his college career.

“Our kids were all midgets out there,” Novak said about the 6-foot-5 Blythe. “It probably took [ISU coach Dan McCarney] 30 seconds to notice that, and he really caused us problems.”

The Huskies, led by Harris, rushed for 117 yards against a Cyclone defense that had allowed just 121 in its first two games and ranked seventh in the nation for total defense.

Sheldon, Hurd, Harris, Powers, tight end Brad Cieslak and running back Garrett Wolfe all scored for the Huskies.