FORT COLLINS – Colorado State coach Jay Norvell spoke for nearly 15 minutes after his Rams beat Northern Colorado on Saturday night, but next week’s opponent was only mentioned by name once.

There was a lot of talk about the environment at Canvas Stadium for the home opener and the Rams’ need for continued improvement this early in the season, but the only time Colorado came up was a recollection from the Buffaloes’ 43-35 overtime win last season in Boulder.

“I feel like we were in position last year to be able to finish games and run the football,” Norvell said. ” It’s something that we’re going to have to do. We didn’t do it last year in the Colorado game. We had a chance to finish the game with the ball in our hands, and we didn’t do it. We have to learn how to do that.”

The Rams got a chance to showcase their growth in that regard at the end of Saturday’s game. After taking over in Northern Colorado territory after an unsuccessful onside kick with a 14-point lead and a little more than four minutes to play, Norvell hoped his team would be able to grind away the rest of the game. The Rams nearly did just that.

Reserve running back Avery Morrow carried five times and picked up 27 yards on drive, which ended with an eight-yard touchdown run with 51 seconds left to play.

“Boy, did he run the ball hard at the end of the game, and I was proud of that,” Norvell said. “I was so proud that he got in the end zone at the end of the game.”

Morrow’s final run capped a 246-yard rushing performance from the Rams. There were explosive runs like Justin Marshall’s 42-yard run which was a couple yards short of adding a fourth rushing touchdown to the team’s total and 20-plus yard runs from Damian Henderson II and receiver Tory Horton, who left the game in the third quarter with an injury. The more methodical drive was offensive tackle Saveyon Henderson’s favorite stretch of the game.

“We like to be able to win on our own terms,” Henderson said. “That’s pretty nice.”

Even in a 52-0 season-opening loss to Texas, Marshall managed a 100-yard day on 25 carries. Through two games, the leader of the Rams’ backfield is at 173 rushing yards, while Keegan Holles is at 93 after leading CSU with 89 yards on 10 carries against the Bears. Vann Schield, now at Northern Colorado, led the Rams with 389 rushing yards last season, while Marshall and Morrow were the only other backs to rush for more than 250 yards. That put a lot of pressure on quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi during his freshman season.

“We got a lot of backs that can run – much different than a year ago,” Norvell said. “I think it’s going to help Brayden.”

The run game could be even more important in next week’s Rocky Mountain Showdown with Horton’s availability uncertain. Last year, the Rams averaged 2.6 yards on 39 rush attempts. That inefficiency proved costly when the Rams had an eight-point lead in the final eight minutes. Colorado State picked up one first down before punting the ball back to the Buffaloes’ offense that promptly tied the game and went on to win.

The hope is this year looks a little different when Colorado, which has allowed 157 and 149 rushing yards in its first two games, comes to Fort Collins to face the Rams’ improved ground game.

“We’re happy about it, but we’re not satisfied,” Henderson said. “We know we’ve got a big game coming up, and we need to do a lot better.”