The fall for Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi has been precipitous.

From leading Colorado State to its first eight-win season in a decade in 2024 to entering the 2025 season as a three-year starter on the verge of breaking various program records, the redshirt junior quarterback has left the Rams, interim coach Tyson Summers said Wednesday.

“Brayden and I have had a lot of conversations over the last couple days,” Summers told reporters in Fort Collins after practice. “I really just needed to talk to him about where he’s at and I hadn’t really been in a role to do that prior to that, but I thought it was important that he and I got on the same page. He was great. I just asked him what his goals were, where he thought things would be and Brayden has chosen to step away from the football team for the remainder of the season.”

The decision should not come as a surprise in the aftermath of Jay Norvell’s firing, as Fowler-Nicolosi was benched for backup Jackson Brousseau during the fourth quarter of CSU’s loss to UTSA on Sept. 20. He hadn’t been on the field since.

Brousseau is set to make his fifth consecutive start Saturday (5:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network) at Wyoming in what will be the final edition of the Border War as a Mountain West Conference game. Redshirt freshman Darius Curry even got mop-up duty in the loss to San Diego State earlier this month.

“(Fowler-Nicolosi) has won a lot of football games here, been here for a long time and he’s had a challenging situation this year,” Summers said. “I look forward to nothing but the best for him. He’s gonna go have a great career somewhere else and we’re gonna do everything we can do to help him do that. I will vouch for him to anyone, anywhere, anytime.”

Fowler-Nicolosi leaves the Rams with a 15-10 record across 25 career starts with 6,938 passing yards and 38 touchdowns to 29 interceptions. He also had six rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown during his four seasons with the program.

Arguably his most memorable performance came in his first game as the full-time starter. After making one start as a true freshman in 2022, Fowler-Nicolosi replaced Clay Millen as the starting quarterback heading into the 2023 Rocky Mountain Showdown in Boulder.

Fowler-Nicolosi nearly led the Rams to an upset over Deion Sanders and Colorado, throwing for 367 yards and three touchdowns in the double-overtime loss at Folsom Field.

Later that season, he led CSU to a frantic comeback and delivered the program’s first win over Boise State with a Hail Mary touchdown pass on the game’s final play.

He will have one year of eligibility remaining.