As far as Tyson Summers is concerned, Colorado State has a clean slate heading into the final four weeks of the season.

After the second of two bye weeks and some much-needed time away, the interim Rams coach sees the rest of the 2025 season as an opportunity.

At 2-6 overall and 1-4 in Mountain West play, nobody in Fort Collins is happy with how this season has gone. But it’s been a few weeks since Jay Norvell was fired and after the chaotic lead-up to the Border War at Wyoming, which resulted in a disappointing 28-7 defeat, there’s now a chance for everyone on the CSU roster and coaching staff to prove themselves.

Prove themselves to the next head coach at CSU.

Or prove themselves for an opportunity elsewhere.

That starts Saturday night (7:30 p.m. FS1) at Canvas Stadium as UNLV (6-2, 2-2 Mountain West) visits.

“I think (the bye week) gave us a chance to move on from some things,” Summer said. “At the end of the day, trying to build up confidence in our guys is a huge piece of it and trying to build up trust as we make some of these adjustments, and I think it gave us a chance to do that. We spent a lot of time over the last two weeks talking about ‘reset’ and I think it gave us a chance to do that, as well. A lot of those guys needed that. I know I did.”

The bye week also allowed Summers to implement things he wants to see on both sides of the ball. He’s made it clear since he took over as the interim following Norvell’s firing that he would make changes. He installed tight ends coach Grant Chesnut as the offensive coordinator and play caller, while also changing certain practice habits.

“I’m gonna keep trying to change and adjust and adapt to the things that we feel like give us the best chance to win and prepare the best to be able to do that,” Summers said. “The first week was obviously very different from a practice structure of what we were trying to get done and I thought the guys did a great job adapting to that and buying into that. They’ve got a great attitude and we’ve gotta find a way to take some of that and translate it onto the field on Saturdays.”

It’s not going to be easy. 

Of the Rams’ remaining opponents, Air Force is the only one without a winning record and that game has its own challenges every year regardless of the talent on the Falcons’ roster.

UNLV brings the Mountain West’s top offense to Fort Collins. 

Under first year coach Dan Mullen and offensive coordinator Corey Dennis — a duo Summers knows well — UNLV is averaging nearly 37 points and 450 yards per game. Led by dynamic quarterback Anthony Colandrea, the Rebels have scored 30 or more points in every game so far this season.

“I worked for Coach Mullen in 2021 and I’m very appreciative of him. I’ve known Corey Dennis (since) before he was born,” Summers said. “His dad and my dad grew up together in Macon, Ga., (and) were high school teammates and his dad was my director of administration at Georgia Southern when I was there.

“It’s kind of a mix of Coach Mullen’s stuff from Florida that you’re used to seeing — and it’s a pretty good mix to go with it of Coach Dennis and what he did in his time at Ohio State. They’ve done a nice job of blending that. They’ve got good players. I think the quarterback’s one of the best players in the league. They’ve got a lot of running backs, they play them well. All those guys are home run hitters. Their receivers can all beat you.”

Not exactly an encouraging scouting report for a struggling Rams defense.

On the flip side, though, there will be opportunities for the CSU offense. UNLV boasts the worst total defense and second-worst scoring defense in the league.

After quarterback Jackson Brousseau struggled to find a rhythm and threw his first two interceptions of the season at Wyoming, this is a chance to get back to playing explosive offensive football, even if the scoreboard isn’t on their side at the end of the game.

“Like anything, we want to be able to see progress,” Summers said. “We’ve talked with our team a lot the last couple of days about being able to take what we’ve done on the field and how we’ve practiced and how we’ve tried to evolve and being able to translate that into some points. That’s really what we’re looking to do. I’m really proud of our offense, I’m really proud of those players, I’m proud of our coaches. I think we’ve made a ton of progress over the last two weeks and we just want to be able to see it translate.”

King’s Prediction

UNLV 45, Colorado State 31

Expect points Saturday night. A reeling Rams defense couldn’t stop a nose bleed until Wyoming took its foot off the gas in the Border War and now it must face the best offense in the Mountain West as UNLV has yet to score fewer than 30 points in a game. Conversely, the Rebels have allowed 48 points per game across their last three and this is as good a time as ever for CSU to get rolling offensively. It just won’t be enough.

King’s Players to Watch

Colorado State: RB Javion Kinnard, LB Owen Long

Getting the ball to playmakers in space should be the plan of attack for both offenses. The Rams would be wise to involve Kinnard, a true freshman, both in the run and pass game. In CSU’s lone conference win, he showed he can be elusive in space and UNLV hasn’t stopped anyone for a month. Defensively, it’s going to be all about limiting points and forcing turnovers. If anyone can help lead a defensive performance that keeps the Rams in the game, it’s Long.

UNLV: QB Anthony Colandrea, LB Marsel McDuffie
The Rebels have the best quarterback in the Mountain West. He’s third in the conference in passing yards and trails only Air Force’s Liam Szarka in rushing yards by a quarterback. There are a variety of different ways he should be able to attack a vulnerable CSU defense. On defense, UNLV is banged up. McDuffie has been one of the lone bright spots as the team’s leading tackler who also has a sack and two interceptions.