FORT COLLINS — Jay Norvell’s fourth Colorado State team looks like the one he envisioned when he first took over the Rams.

“Overall, we’re starting to look like the body type that we’re recruiting at each position,” Norvell said. “We’re starting to get more depth and competition at each position. This is, by far, the most depth and competition I’ve had since I’ve been here at Colorado State and that makes everybody better.”

Time will tell.

Norvell’s first season opener at CSU was a 51-7 loss at Michigan in 2022 and in the following weeks, a few dozen players left the program. His fourth season opener is Saturday’s game at Washington (9 p.m., Big Ten Network), where the Rams are 20-point underdogs.

Now, Norvell’s team not only looks the way he wants on the football field, but acts the way he wants off of it, too.

“I think we really hit the money with the kids we brought in,” Norvell said. “We just don’t have any bad apples. Our roster is very different than (when) we first got here. We have a lot of like-minded people. It’s a pleasure to coach them. When you have guys that think like you as a coach, you really don’t have to communicate as a coach. I don’t talk nearly as much as I talked in my first year here. Guys stand out if they’re selfish, now.”

For Norvell, the talking happens during the recruiting process.

“You have to really get into some conversations that matter very quickly,” Norvell said. “We find out very quickly what’s important to a player. We look for players that value winning over everything else. A kid that wants an opportunity to lead, to play, to show what he can do, those are the kind of guys we really like.”

Norvell, himself, is more selfless, too. After losing star wide receiver Tory Horton to an injury early last season, he abandoned his “Air Raid” offense and leaned into what he believed to be the strengths of his football team — the offensive line and the run game.

It led to six wins in the final seven games following a 2-3 start that included Norvell’s first wins over both Air Force and Wyoming, the program’s first bowl game since 2017 and first season with at least eight wins since 2014.

But the pressure has continued to grow for Norvell, despite the breakthrough 2024 season. Now, it’s about backing up that performance — much like he did at Nevada when he won 30 games across his final four seasons in Reno.

The Pac-12 looms in a year and the Rams must head into a new conference with momentum, whether that’s off the back of a strong season or with an exciting new coach.

“We want to win. That’s what our goal is,” Norvell said. “We’re gonna take this group and do the things that we need to do to win.”

He believes he can do that his way and with his players. It started by hiring defensive coordinator Tyson Summers to coach a style of defense that is more chaotic and forces more turnovers. It also means letting third-year starting quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi be the player the Rams have been molding him into for multiple years.

“Brayden started as a freshman, we put up with all his immaturity and now this is the payoff,” Norvell said. “He was like a skateboard kid his first year. He’d run around and give everybody the (middle) finger; that was Brayden. He’s not that anymore. He’s got a chance to reach a lot of school records this year and we’re excited. He knows the whole playbook in and out.”

Whether that leads to another season with eight-plus wins is to be seen. Norvell isn’t shying away from what he expects out of his fourth CSU team.

“We’ve been talking about the expectations since day one. We have high expectations of this group,” Norvell said. “We want to be special and to do that, we gotta step up in games like this (at Washington).”

King’s CSU Rams prediction

The pick: 8-4 (6-2 Mountain West)

Despite a more competitive effort than last season’s opener at Texas, the Rams still lose at Washington before coming home and winning two out of three (Northern Colorado and Washington State) to close the nonconference slate. The Mountain West schedule is tougher this year with a final trip to Laramie for a few years and a two-game stretch at Boise State and home against Air Force to close the regular season. CSU still manages to beat its biggest conference foes (Wyoming and AFA) to go 6-2 in conference play and earn a spot in the New Mexico Bowl.

King’s Rams players to watch

Offense: TE Jaxxon Warren, OL Tanner Morley

A more dynamic passing offense requires unique weapons that can make big plays downfield. Warren, a 6-foot-7 converted quarterback who missed last season with a shoulder injury, could be a top target for Folwer-Nicolosi and set himself up to be the next great tight end at CSU in the mold of Trey McBride and Dallin Holker. Morley is the team’s most reliable offensive lineman. The left guard from Valor Christian will prove himself to be a future NFL player.

Defense: LB Owen Long, DE Mukendi Wa-Kalonji

A captain as a true sophomore, Long had the most tackles among returning CSU defenders and will emerge as one of the Mountain West’s top underclassmen in 2025. On the defensive line, Wa-Kalonji has been waiting five years for his spotlight. The Grandview High grad is in position to have a big season as a pass rusher, similar to Mohamed Kamara’s two years ago.