FACTS & STATS: Site: Sam Boyd Stadium (36,800) -- Las Vegas, Nevada. Television: The Mtn. Home Record: ISU 2-0, UNLV 1-0. Away Record: ISU 0-1, UNLV 1-1. Neutral Record: ISU 0-0, UNLV 0-0. Conference Record: ISU 0-0, UNLV 0-1. Series Record: Iowa State leads, 4-0

GAME NOTES: Following one of the biggest wins in program history, the UNLV Rebels shoot for their second straight triumph this weekend as they entertain the Iowa State Cyclones in non-conference action at Sam Boyd Stadium. Last week, the Rebels were pitted against nationally-ranked Arizona State, were forced to go to overtime and brought home the 23-20 triumph when Malo Taumua blocked what would have been a game-tying field goal attempt. With the victory, their second in three games, the Rebels have already matched their win total for each of the previous three seasons under head coach Mike Sanford. As for the Cyclones, they began the 2008 campaign with back-to-back home wins over the likes of South Dakota State and Kent State. However, last week the team was dealt a 17-5 blow by in-state rival Iowa in Iowa City to drop to 2-1 with its Big 12 Conference schedule slated to kick off the next time out versus Kansas. Of all the opponents on UNLV's schedule this season the Cyclones are the only squad against which the Rebels have yet to win a single game. ISU enters the contest with a 4-0 mark against UNLV, winning the most recent meeting 16-10 two seasons ago.

Heading into last week's meeting with Iowa the Cyclones were one of the highest scoring teams in the nation, but that was before the Hawkeyes took the wind out of their sails. Six times the ISU offense made it inside the 30-yard line of the Hawkeyes, yet the team scored a total of just three points as a result. Grant Mahoney booted a 43-yard field goal for the visitors, the extent of the scoring for an Iowa State offense that converted only 4-of-15 on third down and turned the ball over three times on interceptions by a combination of Austen Arnaud and Phillip Bates. Arnaud has been the starter in all three games thus far for the Cyclones, completing 68.3 percent of his attempts for 162.7 ypg, but Bates is a familiar figure under center as well for the squad with his 20 passing attempts, resulting in a pair of touchdowns to match Arnaud. Bates has carried the ball the same number of times as a runner and is averaging seven yards per attempt to lead the team in rushing. Averaging 362.3 ypg in total offense through three games, the Cyclones are far ahead of the pace they set last season when they ranked last in the Big 12 Conference and 102nd in the nation with just 326.9 ypg.

Iowa State's defense came to play against Iowa in the annual rivalry game, limiting the host team to a mere 244 yards of offense and 4-of-12 on third down plays, yet with the manner in which the ISU offense was stumbling around it simply was not enough to get the job done. Michael Bibbs not only led the squad with his eight tackles, he also logged one of the team's two interceptions. Kurtis Taylor managed to make two of his five stops behind the line of scrimmage as well. Of his 24 tackles through the first three games, Bibbs has made 17 of those unassisted, while his two interceptions are a bit chunk of the unit's seven picks. As a result of the team's more imposing pass defense, the Cyclones are currently first in the conference and tied for 10th in the country with a turnover margin of 1.67 per game. With 1.67 tackles for loss per game thus far, Taylor is tied for fourth in the Big 12, while Christopher Lyle accounts for half the unit's four sacks to this point.

Were it not for Phillip Payne's acrobatic, one-handed grab in the end zone with just 18 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter the Rebels never would have had the opportunity to wrap up their second win of the 2008 season. Payne finished with five grabs for 31 yards and both of the team's touchdowns, while quarterback Omar Clayton converted 19-of-31 for 191 yards and avoided being sacked or picked off in the magical win. Running back Frank Summers netted 103 yards on 22 carries to keep critical drives moving in the right direction. Taking on more than half the team's running plays so far this season, Summers has rumbled his way for 277 yards and two touchdowns, accounting for both of the unit's ground scores and almost two-thirds of its rushing yards. Clayton has been steady and consistent with 61.1 percent completions and, more importantly, has six touchdowns and no interceptions, which is one of the major reasons why the Rebels are third in the Mountain West Conference and 18th in the nation in turnover margin (1.33). With his 8.3 receptions per game, not only is Ryan Wolfe picking up where he left off last season, he's also ranked third in the MWC and tied for seventh in the nation in that department.

Malo Taumua became the hero of the day for the Rebels on the final play of the game with his kick block, earning himself a share of Mountain West Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors. Making the block all the more special is the fact that ASU kicker Thomas Weber was the 2007 Lou Groza Award Winner and had made good on all but one of his previous 31 field goal tries during his career. In addition to Taumua's efforts, Isaako Aaitui also had a standout game with his three TFLs and one of the unit's two sacks. However, even with Aaitui's efforts in the backfield of Arizona State, the Rebels are still far off the pace set by the rest of the nation in terms of TFLs, averaging a mere 3.67 per game to ranks seventh in the conference and 106th in the country this week. Then again, getting over the line of scrimmage and blowing up plays hasn't been a strong suit of the team in recent years, with the squad averaging just 4.42 TFLs a year ago to rank last in the MWC and 117th out of the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision programs.

As long as Summers can chew up yards and minutes on the clock and Clayton can continue to play mistake-free football, the Rebels are in a strong position to pick up their third win of the season this weekend. However, after such a huge win last Saturday, UNLV has to be wary of a letdown in front of the hometown faithful.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: UNLV 27, Iowa State 16

Saturday, September 20th, 9:00 p.m. (et).