It was one thing for the Colorado State defense to allow two opposing rushers to past the 100-yard mark for the second straight week. It’s another to allow Air Force quarterback Haazig Daniels to establish a new school record with a 92-yard touchdown pass in the Rams’ 35-21 loss to the Falcons last week.

Now at 3-7 with bowl eligibility out of reach, the Rams will face Hawaii on Saturday in their attempt to break their four-game losing streak.

Four weeks ago, the Rams were 2-0 in the Mountain West with all their goals ahead of them. Now all that is left is to finish the job of building the foundation in Steve Addazio’s first full season as coach.

“Now you’re fighting against not being bowl eligible at the end of the season and still trying to do what? Play your best ball,” Addazio said during his weekly press conference. “That’s not an easy task. To the credit of our players right now, I haven’t seen signs of that being an outward problem.”

Todd Centeio completed 13 of 22 passes for 173 yards with two picks for the Rams (3-7, 2-4).

The foundation of the defense is being established in the secondary by defensive backs Robert Floyd and Jack Howell.

“Robert Floyd and Jack Howell are going to be two fabulous players,” Addazio said.

Howell is second among the Rams in solo tackles with 30 while Floyd leads the team in interceptions.

“They’re just ballers,” Addazio said, “they make instinctive plays.”

On offense, Centilo at quarterback and running back David Bailey will return next year but the Rams only have tight end Trey McBride for two more games as their top target. The senior needs only 81 yards to become the first tight end in program history to have a 1,000-yard receiving season. It’s an attainable mark for McBride, as he has been averaging 91.9 yards per game this season.

If there was ever a team for the Rams to stop the skid against its the Rainbow Warriors, who won half of their games this season against New Mexico State. Somehow, Hawaii had a home-and-home against the Aggies this season and went 2-0. Their other two wins came at home against Portland State of the FCS ranks and Fresno State, which was ranked No. 18 at the time.

Hawaii is also in the midst of a losing streak if it’s own. The Rainbow Warriors have lost three straight after falling to fellow Mountain West bottom feeder UNLV 27-13 the previous week.

Home field advantage is a major factor when playing Hawaii. Not so much for traditional reasons, however. The Rainbow Warriors currently play in a small, empty stadium due to state COVID-19 protocols, but the length of travel to the islands has always seemed to put the visiting team behind the eight ball.

“It’s the obvious. It’s a long, long trip for people to go out there,” Addazio said. “That’s an incredible home-field advantage. On the flip side of it, I’m imagining it’s pretty tough on them to travel to away games. It’s hard. It’s hard on them going away, and it’s hard on teams going to them. That’s obvious. They play better at home.”

Something has to give in this game. CSU is given a 50.5 percent chance of winning according to ESPN’s Football Power Index.