By: Mike Brohard

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The roles have reversed.
 
The first four games of the season, Colorado State's offense was rolling, as 425 yards marked the worst total offense figure, the other three games all exceeding 505 yards, hitting a whopping 694 against Toledo.
 
Those four weeks, nobody really wanted to talk about the defense, at least against FBS competition. But the past two games, it's been the CSU defense which has kept the team in games, with the offense unable to produce enough punch to provide victory, and the seven combined turnovers in the two games are far from appealing.
 
"Offensively we have zero identity right now," CSU coach Mike Bobo said. "As an offense we're searching, trying to find something, you know we're just struggling on offense. We have to go back to the drawing board. A lot of pieces are missing, we have to go back and figure out what these guys can do to give us a chance to be successful because right now we're having trouble executing offensively."
 
The receiving corps were down with leading target Warren Jackson out a second game with a shoulder injury and E.J. Scott started serving a team suspension. They lost quarterback Collin Hill three weeks ago.
 
Still, it's the lack of clean play which has been most damaging. Colorado State is now up to 16 turnovers, seven of them coming in the past two games and all of those occurred after halftime. The Aztecs turned two off them into 14 points, the first coming right out of the chutes of the second half. It made it a 17-3 game at that point, a jarring deficit for a team struggling to move the ball.
 
Quarterback Patrick O'Brien, who threw for 217 yards on 19-of-30 passing, said he doesn't feel the offense is pressing coming out of the locker room, but they aren't making the right plays.
 
"There might be a little bit of that. Not me personally, but if you're down, you're going to throw the ball a little bit more and stuff like that and try to make plays," he said. "Like my pick today, I didn't throw it out there far enough. It wasn't anything I was trying to do too much, my throw wasn't where it needed to be.
 
"It's something to look at. It's just tough."
 
With the giveaways, Bobo said he'll use the week finding the quarterback who will not turn over the ball heading into Friday's game at New Mexico (6 p.m.; CBS Sports Network).
 
Positive Change
 
Defensively, the Rams look to have turned a corner, limiting San Diego State to 238 yards of total offense and just 3.1 yards per play. The group produced six three-and-out and got off the field by allowing the Aztecs to convert just three of 14 third downs.
 
Jamal Hicks matched his career best with 15 tackles, and Logan Stewart and Cam'ron Carter set personal bests in stops. The 12 tackles for loss were a season best, with four sacks in the mix.
 
"It's definitely a good thing," linebacker Dequan Jackson said.
 
In what they feel is a sign of maturity, Colorado State is learning to bow their neck against signs of adversity. After giving up a big pass play to start the game, the unit held tight and limited the Aztecs to a field goal. They weren't perfect – SDSU converted two turnovers into touchdowns – but the Rams are improving.
 
"The resiliency on this team is just amazing," said Jan-Phillip Bombek, who had 1.5 sacks. "Even if we give up a big play, it's not like, here we go again. It's like let's go, let's make a wrong right."
 
Jackson believes the key is the group stayed together through the tying times of the first month of games and remained bonded in an effort to improve, correct mistakes and vow to do their part.
 
If the offense makes mistakes, the goal is to correct those, too.
 
"It's being able to bounce back. You'll face adversity in the game, you'll face sudden changes," Jacksons said. "It's how you respond to it. What are we going to do about it? The offense turning the ball over, it's going to happen. We want it to happen less, but it's going to happen. What is the defense going to do about it, and that's how we're looking at it. It's what are we going to do about it."
 
 
Extended Frustration
 
The feeling hasn't changed, and though the words players and coaches use may vary, the point is the same: The Rams feel they are so close to being a very good team.
 
The bottom line is CSU is 1-5 on the season (0-2 in the Mountain West). Trey McBride said it over and over meeting with the media after the game, and he's growing tired of repeating himself.
 
"Yeah, definitely. It's definitely frustrating. We know how good we could be," he said. "We could easily be a 6-0 team right now, and it's just frustrating because we're right there in every game. We could easily come out with a W. It's just little mistakes we keep making. We're going to go in Monday, correct them, come out on Friday against New Mexico and get a win on the road."