FRIGHT NIGHT

Horns look to rebound after 2015 trip to Iowa St.

Malik Jefferson certainly remembers Texas’ last trip to Ames, Iowa. Getting shut out 24-0 by Iowa State in 2015 wasn’t even the worst of it.

“The worst memory was a little kid cussing me out as I was leaving the stadium,” the Texas linebacker said this week. “I was shocked. I’m a kid lover, and it hurt my heart, honestly, but it frustrated me as well. But I understood the environment wasn’t the same, so I didn’t take it personally.”

Jefferson was walking out of Jack Trice Stadium with guard Patrick Vahe. Both were freshmen that season when they were accosted by a Cyclones fan who “had to be 8 or 9,” Jefferson recalled. “I let the kid cuss me out,” he said. Oh, there’s been plenty for Texas fans to cuss and discuss this decade as far as Iowa State’s concerned. The two teams meet again Thursday night in Ames in what looks like a dangerous trap game for Tom Herman’s Longhorns.

This Big 12 opener is anything but a leisurely stroll through America’s heartland. Iowa State is 21-12 all-time on Thursday nights, including a 10-4 mark in its last 14.

Texas (1-2, 0-0 Big 12) played up to the level of competition against USC. Herman said “it’s unfathomable to me” that the Longhorns would play differently against the Cyclones (2-1, 0-0).

“I would be shocked if we didn’t come out and play with the same kind of effort, energy and togetherness that we did a couple of weeks ago in Los Angeles,” Herman said.

The Cyclones have been a thorn in the Horns’ side for years now. It started in 2010 when Iowa State, with Herman as the offensive coordinator, came into Royal-Memorial Stadium and pinned a 28-21 loss on