INDIANOLA, Iowa — Everything is bigger in Texas, and football is no exception, as freshmen Kris Novosad, Kameron Smith and Jaxon Lee – all Texas natives – are looking to make it big on Simpson’s campus.

Texas is a long drive from Iowa, but the culture isn’t that different.

“(There’s) just more cattle raising where I’m from,” said Lee, an offensive lineman from Muleshoe where he was all-district as an offensive and defensive lineman and a three-year captain. While his high school was small, football games were a major event to the town.

Lee played in both of Simpson’s first two games, getting some experience under his belt in his freshman season.

“I’m looking forward to playing with the team and getting a conference championship,” Lee said.

His expectations for himself are as high as they are for the team. He said he hopes to start and be named to the all-conference team this season and also wants a 3.25 grade point average or higher in the classroom.

Like Lee, Novosad has a championship in his sights. He is no stranger to championships, as his team won the 5A state championship 56-0 his senior season. Novosad was also given first team all-district honors.

Novosad is a linebacker from Houston, where he attended George Ranch High School. He said there are dialectal differences between Iowa and Texas.

“The lingo is different compared to Texas lingo, and some people say that I have a Texas accent,” Novosad said.

Smith is a wide receiver also from Houston but went to Sharpstown High School, where he was given first team all-district honors his junior and senior years.

Smith said Sharpstown was around 1,300 students.

“I’m looking forward to the winter and the cold,” Smith said. “I’ve never really played with snow, only really once in my life.”

Smith said he ended up at Simpson because his admissions counselor kept talking to him, and Simpson offered him a scholarship and the opportunity to play football.

“This season I want to play varsity,” Smith said. “I have to at least play one game. I can’t go home without playing on varsity. I don’t want to go and say I played JV or anything like that. I want to play varsity.”

All three Texas guys are at Simpson and ready to do whatever it takes to make themselves and Simpson’s football team better.