FORT COLLINS — Jay Norvell woke up feeling good on Saturday morning.

Then he saw some of the scores from the games that ended late Friday night — particularly the one from the game 45 miles southwest in Boulder.

“I heard some of the scores from last night (and) that helped my confidence a little bit and put a smile on my face,” Norvell said.

It was a clear nod to the wild, 46-43 double overtime loss Colorado suffered at the hands of Stanford, in which the Buffaloes blew a 29-0 halftime lead.

Never in his wildest dreams could Norvell have imagined his Colorado State team would be a part of an even crazier game than one in Boulder.

But a little after midnight early Sunday morning, Norvell was dancing in the middle of his team in the locker room, his typical visor on backward, as the Rams celebrated one of the most miraculous wins in program history — a 31-30 victory over Boise State for the first time in program history.

It featured a 21-point comeback in the final five minutes that was capped off by the “Holy Holker,” a Hail Mary touchdown on the final play.

“We needed a breakthrough win and we finally got one tonight,” Norvell said. “Some streaks die hard. I knew we’d beat ‘em, I just didn’t know when. I was hoping it was going to be tonight.”

It’s true, CSU needed a breakthrough in every sense of the word.

Sure, the win over New Mexico last year was a special one for that group as they rallied together to end the season with a win, especially after over two dozen players left the program in the first month of the season.

But that was only the Rams’ third win of a difficult first year for Norvell.

The Rams thought they had their breakthrough last month against the Buffs, especially when they held a 28-17 lead early in the fourth quarter. But that game ended in a double overtime loss.

Just last week, to open Mountain West play, CSU jumped out to a 17-0 lead on the road against a good Utah State team. But 34 unanswered points by the Aggies resulted in a 44-24 defeat for CSU.

“There was a lot of soul searching this week,” Norvell admitted. “Guys were disappointed, upset, embarrassed.”

As the Rams went into the halftime locker room down 17-0 to a Boise team that the program had yet to be in 12 tries, it felt like any potential breakthrough win would have to wait another week.

“That was the worst half of football we could’ve played,” safety Jack Howell said.

Down 20 and with just over four minutes to play, quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi found Louis Brown IV for a 12-yard touchdown.

The Rams recovered the ensuing onside kick and another touchdown pass, this time to Dylan Goffney, from Fowler-Nicolosi made it a one-score game with 1:53 seconds left.

Even after getting a stop on defense, CSU had to go 88 yards in just 30 seconds. The prayers were answered.

“We just kept fighting,” Norvell said. “They would not fold. I’m so proud of them.”

One of the big reasons this Rams team had an extra ounce or two of grit in them was Kennedy McDowell, CSU’s freshman defensive lineman who was sent to the hospital after he was hit with a blindside block on the opening kickoff of the second half.

“We just said, ‘It’s personal now,’” Howell said. “The love that we have on this team, no one’s gonna get away with something like that. That really motivated us on defense, especially. When you mess with one of our boys, we’re gonna rally back and we’re going to protect each other every single time.”

The Rams announced Sunday that McDowell was discharged from a local hospital at 4:30 a.m. McDowell’s mother sent a tweet from his Twitter account, saying he had been diagnosed with a concussion and is in great spirits.

After the game, an emotional Norvell dedicated one of the four game balls to McDowell. The other three went to CSU president Amy Parsons, athletic director Joe Parker and a final one for the entire team.

“God had his hands all over us tonight,” Norvell said.

Norvell’s been on the job in Fort Collins for 22 months now and it hasn’t been the easiest road for him and his staff. They’ve yet to get the Rams playing the ‘Air Raid’ style of offense they promised from day one.

But wins like the one on Saturday night — as improbable as it may have been — just served as validation for what Norvell is trying to build in Fort Collins.

“Whenever you win, it reinforces all the hard work that everybody puts in,” Norvell said. “These kids will remember this game the rest of their lives and so will I.”