STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) – For Oklahoma State, this Saturday’s game against Iowa State is about more than avenging the only loss from a historic 2011 season. It also dredges up the memories of a sad, sometimes spooky, experience surrounding the 37-31 defeat last November. The Cowboys were 10-0 and two wins from playing for the national championship when they went to Iowa State last season, learning on game day that women’s basketball coach Kurt Budke and three others had been killed in a plane crash.

Ex-defensive end Richetti Jones described an eerie bus ride down a dark road to the stadium when “all you can think about is death.” It only complicated matters when one of the three team buses broke down.  The circumstances are far different this season as the Cowboys (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) and Cyclones (4-2, 1-2) slug it out for position in the middle of the conference standings.