NORMAN, Okla. -- From his perch at the helm of Iowa State football, Matt Campbell has seen overcast skies loom over the program. The storms rolled in well before he ever took the reins, but he didn’t need to sit through them to see their effect. The lingering damage they’ve caused.

Now, though, after scoring one of the biggest victories in school history, a 38-31 defeat of No. 3 Oklahoma, the sun is shining through.

“What’s really special is there’s been a lot of adversity at Iowa State for a long time,” Campbell said. “There’s a lot of cloud around it, and I think our kids said, ‘I’m sick of it, and we’re just going to keep grinding, we’re just going to keep swinging and we’re just going to keep getting better one day at a time.’

“And the end of it, here we are.”

The Cyclones were more than four-touchdown underdogs coming into the game, missing their starting quarterback, a starting linebacker and their identity after a disappointing home loss to Texas last week in which they scored just seven points. Ten minutes after kickoff, they trailed by two touchdowns.

None of it mattered.

ISU got an all-time performance from Joel Lanning, who played middle linebacker, quarterback and special teams. Walk-on Kyle Kempt subbed in at quarterback and delivered a masterful performance, completing 18 of 24 passes for 343 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. The defense held Oklahoma quarterback and Heisman hopeful Baker Mayfield in check.

Few other victories in program history can match what ISU accomplished at Memorial Stadium, a venue ISU hadn’t won in since 1990. Just five other Cyclone teams in the 82-game history of this series have ever bested the Sooners. This joins Oklahoma State 2011 and Nebraska 1992 in the pantheon of Cyclone milestones.

It comes at a time where ISU - as a program, a fanbase and a school - is desperate for a winner. Years have often been lean in Ames, but the last four years have largely been disappointment after disappointment with nary a light to be seen.

This day, the clouds parted and provided respite for the storm.

“You think about all those guys in this program here,” Campbell said, “and all the heartfelt, painful stuff they’ve gone through the last four to five years. I feel like they’re hardened. I don’t think adversity strikes them. They just keep grinding and getting better.”

Campbell has made it his mission to provide more Saturdays like the one ISU experienced at Oklahoma.

“For the last year and a half,” Campbell said, “we’ve thrown everything from myself, our staff and the kids in our program at attacking that cloud and the inconsistencies that exist.”

Campbell, though, is under no illusions that ISU has seen it’s way through the storm. That’s what makes him increasingly look like a man capable of guiding the Cyclones to clear skies.

“Today doesn’t do anything,” he said. “How we respond to today does.

“The reality for us is today is great. It’s awesome. We’ll feel good about it. They’ll be great stories written, but then all of a sudden, we’ve got seven games guaranteed to us the rest of the season.

“That’s where that cloud gets lifted because you say, ‘You know what? This isn’t the pinnacle. We learned. We grew. We got better.’ All of a sudden, we give ourselves a chance to understand what true success really looks like.”

ISU has had moments like this one before, but rarely did they amount to much else. They were high points, not building blocks.

This win feels like it could be different. Campbell preaches process, valuing how the game is played rather than how it’s ultimately decided. It’s a philosophy that sounds great, but is certainly hard to always adhere to. Campbell, though, clings to it seemingly with every breath. There were no grand pronouncements or gloating at a time when they would have been well earned.

The Cyclones want something more. Something lasting. Something meaningful.

They seem on their way to accomplishing that.

There is a cloud about ISU football. Today, though, the Cyclones are walking on it.