ITHACA -- Cornell coach Jim Knowles has seen enough of his team getting dominated on both sides of the line of scrimmage this season.

If it were the NFL, Knowles would be scouring the waiver wire for help. But that's not an option, so the next best thing the Big Red coaching staff can do is change the personnel they bring to East Hill. And that's what they plan to do.

"Unfortunately it's taken me five or six years but we have totally revamped our recruiting system from top to bottom," Knowles said. "So the biggest thing is offensively -- and defensively we've recovered from it but we went through a stretch there -- we need to get bigger, stronger, and more athletic up front," Knowles said.

Part of the new recruiting approach is not focusing on players that some other Ivy League schools have laid claim to.

"What's happened in the past is we've gotten great kids, but in terms of the Ivy League it's been Harvard, Yale -- they get the top and now we're fighting for and we don't win a lot of those recruiting battles," Knowles said. "So now, we've finally had to say, 'That's fine. We have to go find a Cornell type of kid.' We have to find the kid who wants to be here at our place and who may not want to be there or who may not fit that mold. So instead of doing so many head-to-head battles, we've done a totally new broad-based approached to recruiting."

Another part of the plan is beefing up recruiting in areas they've ignored or haven't emphasized in the past.

"We have alumni commit to it this year to help to fund it because we're kind of reaching out into areas that we've never been in. Like the Heartland -- Iowa, Minnesota. Central California; some areas in Texas that haven't been touched. We're going to find people that maybe aren't being recruited by those other schools, but are every bit as good. The leadership plan went hand-in-hand with building a new recruiting model."

Stat check

In four Ivy League games this season, Cornell has scored just three offensive touchdowns.

The Big Red's defense also has scored three touchdowns.

Cornell has been extremely effective in the red zone, converting nearly 77 percent of its chances. However, the Big Red offense has only been inside the opponents' 20-yard line 13 times through seven games this season.

Notes

Dartmouth leads the all-time series 51-40-1. ... Cornell's offense hasn't lost a fumble this season. Through 442 plays, Cornell has fumbled four times and recovered them all. The team's only lost fumble came during an interception return by Aaron Levine against Bucknell. ... Dartmouth has blocked six kicks this season. ... Dartmouth's go-to receiver last year, Tim McManus, suffered a fractured leg just before preseason camp began and is out for the season. .... Cornell senior linebacker Chris Costello has been named to ESPN The Magazine's All-District first-team. He is one of eight Ivy Leaguers on the ballot who have a chance to earn academic All-America honors.