AMES — Fans of the Jake McDonough-produced Iowa State football-themed rap song, “Comin’ Thru,” have been lighting up YouTube since he posted it Tuesday to the world’s biggest video sharing site.

“Pretty cool,” McDonough, a 6-5, 280-pound nose guard and fan of all music types, said.

No kidding — though there’s no video accompanying the popular tune unveiled to the public about two weeks ago, just a Cyclone athletics logo.

By late Tuesday, it had surpassed 10,000 views.

By Wednesday night, it hovered around the 25,000 mark.

The novelty of the venture prompted blog mentions on national web sites such as CBSSports.com.

My long, but far-from-comprehensive feature article on McDonough published last Saturday can be found here.

McDonough hoped “Comin’ Thru,” which is laced with his beats and includes the ISU drum line, guitarist Tyler Mock and Kansas City-based hip-hop artists 816 Boyz, could top the 100,000 view plateau by game time (Saturday, 6 p.m., Fox College Sports) against Texas Tech.

It stood at 51,587 as of this posting at 1 p.m. Saturday.

A couple other tidbits about the other side of West Des Moines native McDonough: His violin is broken. And he’s produced beats for Syrian — yes, Syrian — rap crew Sham MCs.

McDonough’s been corresponding with the group, who occasionally note gunshot blasts nearby while they ask him to lay down more beats — and fast.

It’s a small, small and sometimes messy, to put it mildly, world.

But music’s opened McDonough’s heart and mind to all of it.

As has football, which along with school is still numero uno on the commitment list.

“I try to keep music as a hobby,” he said. “Music will always be there.”

McDonough, by the way, once won the “Violin Olympics” as a pre-teenager.

The medal for that win is in his room — along with those that mark his athletic accomplishments.

HIs stringed instrument, he said, was broken accidentally, but not in a fit of rage.

After all, the Cyclones are 3-0 and the defense ranks in the top 10 in scoring stinginess (10.7 points per game).

Not much to be mad about.

He aims to keep it that way against the Red Raiders.

Iowa State's Jake McDonough (94) hugs Jake Knott after Knott intercepted an Iowa pass during the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012, in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa State won 9-6. (AP Photo/Conrad Schmidt)