NIU quarterback Josh Haldi seemed surprised when he realized the Huskies be the favorite in their game at 3:05 p.m. Saturday against Iowa State at Huskie Stadium.

“It’s kind of different,” Haldi said. “Realistically, I think we got the bullseye on our back a little bit now. We went into the season thinking we were going to be the underdogs in all of these games, and we’re just gonna have to rise up and we’d have something to play for. I think the tables have turned a little bit.”

It seems ironic that Iowa State (2-1), being from the Big 12 conference, could travel to Huskie Stadium – where the Huskies (3-0) couldn’t win a game five years ago – and be six-and-a-half-point underdogs.

The “mid-major” Huskies are enjoying their first-ever ranking in the top 25 this week. The Associated Press has NIU at No. 20 and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll put the Huskies at No. 22. The Cyclones, however, received no votes in either.

Last season, the Cyclones had one of the most talked-about quarterbacks in Heisman-hopeful Seneca Wallace. This season, though, Iowa State has gone with an inexperienced freshman in Austin Flynn.

Flynn is the nation’s No. 1 freshman quarterback in yards-per-game of total offense with 283.7.

NIU has contained two mobile quarterbacks this season, in Alabama’s Brodie Croyle and Maryland’s Scott McBrien. The Huskies held Croyle and McBrien to 18 and 17 yards rushing, respectively.

“The big emphasis on this kid compared to those other two; They’re similar,” NIU coach Joe Novak said. “I think [Flynn] is even a better athlete running the ball. He’s more dangerous coming out of the pocket. Those kids did that, this kid really does it a lot. I’d almost rather see him throw it than run it.”

NIU cornerback Randee Drew hopes the Huskies can pressure the young quarterback into some mistakes.

“He’s young,” Drew said. “We throw a couple defensive looks at him, some pressure, maybe we can get him to throw into some bad situations in some zones.”

Despite the Huskies’ ranking, the players know Iowa State will be no slouch.

“We might be six-and-a-half-point favorites, but they’re still in the Big 12,” Haldi said. “They still play in a tough conference and they’re gonna be ready to play, so we’re just gonna have to do what we’ve done to get us here to this point; continue to play solid football and see what happens.”