FORT COLLINS — For once, Colorado State doesn’t mind being last to the party.

Everyone in the Mountain West has played a conference game to this point — except the Rams. Five nonconference games and a bye week means Week 7 is the arrival of league play for Jay Norvell’s team.

“It’s an opportunity, really, to start again,” Norvell said this week. “You play a lot of different games in the nonconference. It’s just a different challenge every week, but it’s all to prepare you for conference play. We want to be hitting on all cylinders.”

As CSU (2-3, 0-0 Mountain West) hosts San Jose State (4-1, 2-0 MW) Saturday, the Rams are coming off arguably their best performance of the season. Last week on the road against a solid Oregon State team, CSU racked up nearly 450 yards of offense with a complement of run and pass, held the Beavers to fewer than 400 yards and forced two turnovers.

Only problem: Norvell’s team didn’t come away with a win. Penalties and a lack of late-game execution resulted in a gutting 39-31 loss in a game that will likely be a real turning point in the season. Either the Rams will continue to spiral, or put the result behind them and trust they are a team that is improving and capable of competing in a weak Mountain West.

“We’ve worked really hard to build a personality on this team and I think we saw a lot of that (last) Saturday,” Norvell said. “We didn’t finish with the win, but we ran the ball physically. I thought we complemented that with the passing game really well. It was one of our better offensive games, really. We were disruptive on defense. We got some turnovers and we’ve gotta continue that. We work really hard to try to put all of those qualities of our team together for conference play.

“We’re going to be playing against some familiar teams that we know a lot about. We’re back at home and we’ve gotta really build momentum and play better every week.”

The schedule the rest of the way is favorable. There are no more teams like Texas, Colorado and Oregon State — the three teams that beat CSU — left on the schedule. The Rams avoid Mountain West contenders Boise State and UNLV.

But the conference opener against the Spartans will still be a challenge.

One, the Rams will be facing a completely different style of offense. After going up against a physical Oregon State team that ran the ball nearly 50 times, SJSU comes into the game with the top passing offense in the conference and one of the nation’s top receivers in Nick Nash.

Nash leads the Mountain West in every major receiving category and is essentially half of the Spartans’ offense with his production through five games.

“He’s an impressive guy,” Norvell said. “He started as a quarterback for them. He’s a very good athlete. He’s a smart player. His productivity is unquestionable. They’ve got a lot of confidence throwing him the ball and we’re gonna have to do a good job covering him.”

San Jose State is led by first-year coach Ken Nuimatalolo, who has spent the majority of his career at Navy — where he is the winningest coach in program history — but now is in charge of one of the nation’s most explosive passing attacks.

“It’s a credit to his coaching, I think,” Norvell said. “He’s a veteran coach. He knows what he’s doing and his team reflects that. I’m not surprised at all, to be honest. They’ve done a really good job finding out how they need to play and compete at San Jose State and that’s what good coaching is. I’ve been impressed with them. They’ve taken the skill kids that they’ve had and gotten the most out of their talent. They’re always a challenge to play against. Their defensive coaches have been there the last few years. We’ve had some really competitive games against them.”

CSU’s most recent game against SJSU came two seasons ago in the Bay Area in a game the Rams trailed by less than a touchdown late before suffering a 28-16 defeat.

That was Norvell’s first season in Fort Collins. In year three, there’s still a chance to take a real step forward in the Mountain West despite a disappointing end to nonconference play. At this point, they know what it’s going to take over the final seven games in the Mountain West.

“The teams are very comparable,” Norvell said. “Nobody is that much better talent-wise than anybody else. So, it’s how your team plays with chemistry and how hard you play, really.

“There’s always a little pep in your step when you get to play in conference.”

Players to watch

Colorado State: RB Avery Morrow, CB Dom Jones

Despite entering the season not on the two-deep depth chart, Morrow has been arguably CSU’s best offensive player. He’s provided a boost on the ground with a tough, physical running style that has allowed him to rack up 390 rushing yards and four touchdowns. His play has caused the Rams to change their offensive game plan to get him more touches. On defense, Jones will likely be the first player tasked with covering star SJSU WR Nick Nash, who is a lot to handle at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds and has beaten every coverage scheme thrown at him this season.

San Jose State: QB Emmett Brown, LB Jordan Pollard

No, not the guy from “Back to the Future.” Brown is in his first year as the starter at SJSU after transferring in from Washington State. He has allowed the pass-heavy Spartans offense to not miss a beat, leading the Mountain West in passing a month into the season. Defensively, Pollard has been a menace for SJSU with over 20 more tackles than any teammates — 6.5 of those coming in the backfield — to go with an interception and multiple pass breakups in coverage.

King’s prediction

Colorado State 31, San Jose State 28

It’s put up or shut up time for Jay Norvell and CSU. After dropping a game they should’ve won last week in Corvallis, the Rams begin a soft Mountain West schedule against a good but beatable San Jose State team. It’s time for them to show off the improvement from the last few weeks and put together a complete performance for a win over a quality opponent.