Jared Thomas, a former Northwestern All-Big Ten center and captain, analyzes Wildcat football for WildcatReport.

What Jared Thomas remembers most about playing Iowa during his career as a Wildcat is that "any time we won, it was a big-time win."

In 2016, Northwestern was 1-3 and went into Kinnick Stadium -- "one of my favorite places to play," says Thomas -- to pull out a 38-31 upset of the Hawkeyes. Justin Jackson ran for 172 yards, including a 58-yard touchdown, and Austin Carr had three touchdown catches, one of them "a toe-tapper in the end zone," recalls Thomas.

In 2017, Northwestern beat Iowa at Ryan Field, 17-10, in overtime, in an old-fashioned street fight. It was the first of what would become three straight overtime wins and the second of eight straight wins to close out the season for the Wildcats. Thomas remembers "JJ (Jackson) doing JJ things."

Then, maybe the best one of all, in 2018, when Ben Skowronek made an "incredible" diving touchdown catch in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats beat Iowa 14-10 to claim the first Big Ten West title in program history.

"I remember after the game, when Fitz told us that (Wisconsin and Purdue) both lost, and we went ballistic. It went viral," said Thomas. "It meant that I would be coming home (to Indianapolis, his hometown) for the Big Ten Championship Game. It was a dream come true."

Will this year's Wildcats, reeling at 3-5 and coming off of two straight humbling losses, be able to create some of their own memories on Saturday by upsetting the No. 22 Hawkeyes?

The formula for beating Iowa is no secret, according to Thomas.

"The thing about Iowa is you know what they're going to do," said Thomas. "Things haven't changed for Coach (Kirk) Ferentz in the 23 years he's been there."