FORT COLLINS — The Hawaiian word “imua” means to move forward. After a blowout home win over Fresno State last week, Colorado State was hoping to feel the “imua” effect on Saturday night against Hawaii.

However, a sputtering offense for three quarters against the Rainbow Warriors represented a step back for Jay Norvell’s team.

In front of a homecoming crowd of 40,416, the highest attendance in Colorado State football history, the Rams’ fourth-quarter rally against Hawaii fell short in a 31-19 defeat. Dropping to 2-5 on the season and 1-2 in Mountain West play, Colorado State was outgained 435-261 on the night, with 117 of the Rams’ yards coming in the fourth quarter.

Hawaii entered Saturday on an offensive roll, posting 44 points in back-to-back games. While the Rainbow Warriors didn’t hit that mark in Fort Collins, the run-and-shoot offense did plenty of damage. Hawaii freshman quarterback Micah Alejado finished with 301 yards through the air on 26-of-38 passing, marking the third consecutive week he topped the 300-yard mark.

He also tossed three touchdown passes while running back Cam Barfield reeled off a 35-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-1 play with 2:23 left in the game that snuffed out any hope of a CSU win.

Rams quarterback Jackson Brousseau engineered a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown drives to keep Colorado State close, tossing a 7-yard touchdown to Armani Winfield with 11:58 to play and setting up Tahj Bullock’s 3-yard scoring run just over five minutes later to pull the home team within 24-19. Brosseau ended the night 15-of-29 for 176 yards, but had just 58 yards through the air in the first half.

“I thought Jackson did some decent things,” CSU head coach Jay Norvell said. “I think he was just out of sync early in the game and the pressure didn’t help. We didn’t protect him really well. We needed to run the ball and get play action going to get our guys open but we weren’t effective with that.”

CSU had just 85 yards rushing on the night, averaging 2.5 yards per carry. Only one Rams run, a 12-yard burst from Lloyd Avant, went for more than 10 yards.

Despite the low production, Colorado State trailed at the half, 14-7, and was in the game thanks to its special teams.

Two big moments defined Hawaii’s success in the first half, including a 75-yard catch-and-run touchdown from Alejado to Jackson Harris that snapped what had been a 7-7 tie. That play was the biggest chunk of the 252 yards racked up by the visitors before intermission.

The other big block of yards logged by the Rainbow Warriors came on their opening possession, piecing together a 10-play, 75-yard drive to take the quick lead. Alejado’s 17-yard touchdown toss to a wide-open Nick Cenacle down the middle of the field gave Hawaii the 7-0 edge with 8:38 left in the opening quarter.

It would remain that way until Colorado State got on the board on the final play of the first quarter with an electric punt return that etched itself into the record books.

Freshman Javion Kinnard took the punt at his own 9-yard line and weaved through the middle of Hawaii’s coverage and up the right sideline for a 91-yard touchdown, tying for the longest punt return in Colorado State history (joining Robert Ruiz’s effort against San Diego State in 2016).

“Too much space,” Kinnard responded when asked what he saw when he fielded the punt. “I was kind of surprised.”

That, however, was the bulk of Colorado State’s offensive firepower until the fourth quarter, an issue that continues to plague the Rams as the final game of October looms next Saturday at Wyoming.

“Some of the plays that should be easy are really difficult for us right now,” Norvell said.

GAME RECAP

Hawaii 31, Colorado State 19

What happened: Colorado State couldn’t find any kind of offensive rhythm for three quarters, with Javion Kinnard’s 91-yard touchdown return representing the Rams’ only points until the final stanza. CSU mustered just 144 yards of total offense through three quarters, showing that last week’s 49-21 blowout win over Fresno State may have been a mirage.

What it means: Are there more questions than ever about CSU’s direction after the Rams reverted to their struggling ways against Hawaii? Any hope of a rebound in the second half of the season was snuffed by a Rainbow Warriors defense that allowed just four CSU first downs in the first half.

Quotable: “We can’t wait to jumpstart ourselves in the third quarter. We have to get going,” said CSU head coach Jay Norvell.

What’s next: The Rams head to Laramie for the Border War battle against Wyoming. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. (Mountain) and the game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.