Even though the Colorado State football team has already checked a couple of boxes off its to-do list for this season, the stakes are still as high as ever for Friday night’s Border War game against Wyoming.
With a bowl bid already assured and one rivalry trophy already back home behind glass at Canvas Stadium, the Rams still have two goals ahead of them — win back the Bronze Boot and to play for the Mountain West Conference championship.
CSU (6-3) will get the first opportunity at 6 p.m. Friday night at Canvas, when the Rams host the Cowboys (2-7). A win would get them closer to the other goal, as they would improve to 4-0 in Mountain West play with two regular-season games remaining.
“It’s crazy,” linebacker Chase Wilson said. “We’re playing Wyoming and we’re bowl eligible. This is new territory for us. I think it’s a testament to how hard this team’s worked and how hard this coaching staff has worked. It’s an exceptional opportunity. It’s a blessing, really.”
The last time the Rams defeated Wyoming was in 2020, a 34-24 victory at an empty Canvas Stadium due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cowboys have won the past three meetings since, but the past two have been decided by a total of 11 points. When the two teams met in 2022 in Fort Collins, Wyoming escaped with a 14-13 victory.
The last time CSU went into the matchup already bowl-eligible was in 2017, which was also the last year the Rams played in a bowl. The Rams were 6-2 after eight games that season but lost three of their last four games, including rivalry games against Air Force and Wyoming.
Now, the Rams have a chance to rectify all that. They can defeat the Cowboys for the first time at Canvas Stadium since 2014. A Rams victory would also give them wins over both Air Force and Wyoming in the same season for the first time since 2015.
“That was part of our preseason goals was to beat our rivals,” CSU head coach Jay Norvell said. “We were able to do it with Air Force, and now the Border War, the Boot, it’s really important. To get them both for the first time since 2015 is important. We’ve done some things that haven’t been done here in a long time, and we want to be a team that does some things that have never been done here.”
CSU didn’t play last week and although there was no game, the Rams practiced as if there was one to prepare for. With almost two whole weeks to get ready for Wyoming, they believe they are ready.
They know the history. They know how much it means. For some, it has been on their minds since right after their last game, their third straight win over Nevada under head coach Jay Norvell, on Nov. 2.
“This is a historic rivalry game,” Wilson said. “I think our guys really understand what this game means. The emotions, I don’t know if I’ll be able to voice those, but I’m excited for this one.”
While the Rams hope to hoist the Bronze Boot on Friday night, it is just another step in the process to reach their ultimate goal of playing for and winning the Mountain West championship.
In Norvell’s previous two seasons, the Rams won a combined six Mountain West games. A win Friday would give them four this season, with two left to play — at Fresno State next week and at home against Utah State the day after Thanksgiving.
“Now we’re in striking distance, and now we’ve got to put our foot on the gas,” Norvell said. “We don’t want to just maintain; we want to improve and be better. Everything that we’ve done and the way that we’ve practiced, the way we’ve set up our year goals, our monthly goals, our quarterly goals and our daily goals is to have the energy and the fortitude and the detail to really jump on the gas this time of year.”