FORT COLLINS — Everyone wants to talk about the Colorado State offense.

To be fair, it is the biggest storyline in the Rams’ impressive turnaround in 2024. The ‘Air Raid’ offense that Jay Norvell promised when he was hired at the end of 2021 is long gone. CSU boasts a run-heavy attack and a methodical offense that is suffocating the life out of its opponents in the Mountain West.

It’s arguably the biggest reason the Rams sit at 7-3 overall and 5-0 in conference play after last week’s Border War win over Wyoming — and with a chance to clinch a spot in the Mountain West championship game this weekend.

But don’t overlook that CSU defense led by Freddie Banks.

Despite losing their biggest impact player, edge rusher Mohamed Kamara, the Rams have improved in just about every key defensive category. Yards per game allowed, rush defense, opponent third-down conversion rate, and most importantly, points per game allowed.

CSU is allowing a Mountain West-best 22.7 points per game, down from nearly 30 per game in 2023.

The Rams are doing it without splash plays — sacks and turnovers — too. Plays like that can often disguise real issues a defense may have. But this group is handling its business by matching the physicality at the line of scrimmage, getting off the field and giving the ball to the offense, which is now able to churn out long scoring drives that ultimately keep the defense fresh.

“The way we’ve prepared, we’ve really tried to prepare our defense for everything it’s gonna encounter in a season — the physicality, being able to play the run,” Norvell said. “We did an excellent job of playing the run (against Wyoming) and holding their run stats down, but we also did a good job of limiting big plays defensively.

“We’re managing the run game and we’re limiting explosive plays. We were really good on third down this last game, defensively, too. Those things get you off the field.”

Who’s helped lead to the defensive improvement? Look no further than defensive end Gabe Kirschke.

After two years as a walk-on at Wisconsin, the Lone Tree native and former Valor Chrisitan standout returned home to play for CSU this offseason. To say he’s made an instant impact would be an understatement.

Kirschke leads the Rams in both sacks and tackles for loss and has been a mainstay in the starting lineup all season. He wasn’t expecting to get the nod in the season opener at Texas, but an injury to Nuer Gatkhouth thrust Kirschke into a starting role right away and he hasn’t looked back.

“Shoot, I was really nervous, but I felt prepared,” Kirschke told The Denver Gazette last month. “I knew my plays, I knew what I was supposed to do and that’s what really frees you up.”

As many players do, Kirschke, who’s the son of two-time Super Bowl champion Travis Kirschke, went to Wisconsin because of the Badgers’ well-documented history of turning walk-ons into key players not just in college, but also in the NFL.

Kirschke spent two years mostly on the scout team, which in turn allowed him to learn under some stud defensive ends that are in the NFL while going against some all-Big Ten offensive linemen on the other side.

“It gave me a lot of confidence,” Kirschke said. “I feel like, if I can go against these guys and do really well — there’s a couple of them starting in the NFL right now — it gives you a lot of confidence, and makes you feel like you can do it against anyone.”

CSU is now reaping the benefits of that confidence and the Rams defense will continue to for a few more years.

“We thought he was a guy that was up and coming, that was gonna be a really good player,” Norvell said. “He’s been extremely consistent for us, plays really hard and his teammates love him.

“He’s only gonna get better.”

King’s prediction

Colorado State 27, Fresno State 24

Just like the team in Boulder, CSU also feels like a team on a mission this season. This game has been discussed all season as likely the biggest hurdle the Rams must clear to go unbeaten in Mountain West play and reach the conference title game. It probably won’t be pretty, but they’ll do enough to get the job done and put one foot in the MW title game. 

Players to Watch

Colorado State: QB Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, CB Dom Jones

The stats might not be sexy, but Norvell is incredibly proud of the growth Fowler-Nicolosi is shown in his second season as the starting QB in Fort Collins. He’s got a good grasp of the offensive game plan each week and he’s leading the team to wins, which is the most important thing. He might be asked to do a little more in the toughest test so far in Mountain West play. Defensively, Norvell has also praised the play of Jones, who showed how physical he can be in the run game last week, but this week will be asked to be a lockdown player in pass coverage.

Fresno State: WR Mac Dalena, LB Malachi Langley

The Bulldogs have one of the top passing offenses in the Mountain West and veteran QB Mikey Keene has plenty of options to throw the ball to, but his favorite is Dalena, who’s already caught 44 passes for 819 yards and 7 touchdowns in 2024. On defense, Fresno State got really good performances from Langley, a sixth-year senior linebacker who will be important in trying to limit the Rams’ heavy rushing attack.