FORT COLLINS — Jay Norvell knows something needs to change.

In a make-or-break fourth season for the Colorado State coach, the Rams are 1-3 through four games with Mountain West play set to begin Friday (8:30 p.m. CBS Sports Network) at San Diego State.

If not for a final-minute comeback against FCS Northern Colorado, CSU would be 0-4 and Norvell might not have a job anymore. But with a stumbling offense that put up just three points in last week’s home loss to Washington State, the Rams couldn’t continue with the status quo.

The change? Associate head coach Matt Mumme, the son of “Air Raid” offense pioneer Hal Mumme who has been Norvell’s right-hand man on offense since 2017 at Nevada, will take over play-calling duties.

But Norvell doesn’t want anyone to read too deeply into it.

“I think a lot of people have a lot of misconceptions about playcalling, to be honest,” Norvell said. “Our motto is ‘we over me’ and we’re gonna make decisions that help the football team. Matt and I have been handling the offense for a long time, nine years together. Matt’s gonna communicate with the quarterback this week. We’re just gonna change it up that way.

“We need a little spark and we’ll continue to make changes and adjustments throughout the year like we do every year. This is no different.”

A “spark” is an understatement for what the CSU offense could use since the season opener at Washington. The Rams scored 21 points in the first three quarters of a generally encouraging performance in Seattle. In the next three games they scored 21 points in that narrow win over UNC, 16 in a loss to UTSA that saw quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi benched and three against Wazzu.

Take a look at the stat sheet from the most recent game and the struggles become even more puzzling. The Rams were only out-gained by 13 yards, had one more first down and as many third-down conversions.

But overall, CSU looks far from the offense that was promised when Norvell was hired. The Rams currently rank second-to-last in the Mountain West in scoring offense, second-to-last in passing efficiency and second-to-last in passing yards per attempt. They’re also committing the second-most penalty yards per game in the conference.

“Penalties equal points and we gotta play cleaner,” Norvell said. “I think the penalties are a carryover (from) how we fundamentally practice, guys understanding their assignments and not getting out of position. We’re very hard on our guys in practice to do things properly and do it the right way.”

As it heads west for the Mountain West opener, CSU will stick with Jackson Brousseau at quarterback as the coaching staff was impressed with the redshirt sophomore’s play in his first career start, despite the end result. 

“Jackson really competed hard in the game, did a good job scrambling,” Norvell said. “I think he had eight check downs in the game where he threw the ball to the back after going all the way through his reads and that’s the kind of progression that we’ve gotta have from our quarterback.

“I just think he’ll continue to get better. He threw the ball at a high clip in his first start, made a lot of smart plays, checked when he had to, got us into some good plays, kept us out of some bad plays.”

Through four disappointing games, the Rams feel like they have a good feel for how to get the most out of their struggling offense. It will probably look pretty similar in its design, only Norvell won’t be the one communicating the plays to Brousseau. That will be Mumme.

“We’ve been on the same page for a long time about what we’re gonna do,” Norvell said.

Will it lead to a much-needed turnaround and kick start a second straight year where CSU has played better in the Mountain West after a less-than-stellar nonconference schedule? They believe so.

“I just think we’re getting closer and closer in our execution and as we do that, we’ll be more explosive,” Norvell said. “Part of the football season four games in is we’re pushing consistency, but we’re pushing individual accountability. We need our players to continue to develop their skill level and so that personal accountability is important. We’re seeing that from a lot of players. We’ve gotta be the team that continues to improve every week we play in conference (games).”

King’s Prediction

San Diego State 20, Colorado State 17

Can Jay Norvell survive a third-straight loss and an 0-4 start against FBS teams in 2025? We might be about to find out. Against the best scoring defense in the Mountain West, Colorado State’s disappointing offense must go on the road in a short week and deliver a win in a gotta-have-it game. It’s just hard to trust that Norvell handing play-calling duties over to Matt Mumme is going to magically fix things. 

King’s Players to Watch

Colorado State: RB Jalen Dupree, DB Jake Jarmolowich

Maybe the best way for the Rams to fix their offensive issues is to do what they did last year and lean into what it does best: running the football. Dupree has proven with each carry he’s gotten so far this season that he is deserving of more touches. He and the rest of a talented running back room should be the focal point this week. Defensively, CSU has a playmaker in the secondary in Jarmolowich. With so many injuries on the defensive line, the Rams must be creative with how they generate turnovers and plays in the backfield. Jarmolowich, a Holy Cross transfer, may be an answer as the team’s second-leading tackler who is also fourth in the Mountain West in tackles for loss.

San Diego State: RB Lucky Sutton, LB Owen Chambliss
The Aztecs’ offense has also gotten off to a slow start, but that hasn’t affected their win-loss record (3-1). Coach Sean Lewis may have a go-to player in running back Lucky Sutton, the Mountain West’s third-leading rusher who hasn’t had fewer than 61 rushing yards in a game this season. On defense, SDSU shines. The top scoring defense in the conference belongs to the Aztecs and a big reason why is linebacker Owen Chambliss, the team’s leading tackler who also has two sacks and a few pass breakups in coverage.