Monday Presser: Popping the Corn in Unison

Colorado State (0-1) vs. Middle Tennessee (0-1)
Canvas Stadium | Fort Collins, Colo.
Saturday, Sept. 10, 2 p.m.

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FORT COLLINS, Colo . – Get the popcorn ready. That's what Jay Norvell is trying to do.

Looking at the tape of Saturday's season-opening loss to Michigan, the mistakes he saw didn't have much to do with his team's physical play, but more the variety of mental miscues. Those, he said at his Monday press conference, can be fixed.

"They were mental and execution, and execution is timing, it's getting everybody to function together," Norvell said. "It's like popcorn – they take turns just being a little bit off, and the result is not really good. There's no shortcut to getting there, you just have to keep working and stay consistent."

As everyone knows from family movie night, getting the popping in unison to avoid too many burnt kernels and others which never open up takes the right amount of oil and the proper heat. On a football field, that comes with repetitions in practice.

Norvell and his staff value practice. And from practice, he expects the Rams to gain a little more confidence in the schemes they are running. While the result didn't leave anybody happy on Saturday, it did provide valuable instruction which can't be gained through those sessions alone.

For a player to reach that confidence, they have to see it happen in a game. Against Michigan, Norvell didn't always see the confidence required, be it his quarterback pulling the trigger at the right time, or a defender making a break when he saw the play unfold.

There's confidence, and there's 100 percent confidence. Right now, the Rams feel good about what they know about the new systems. They need to get to the point where it's second nature and are, well, popping in unison.

"We haven't played with each other, and this is the first time playing with each other," defensive lineman Mohamed Kamara said. "It was great. I enjoyed that atmosphere; 109,000, that's amazing. That's crazy.

"It showed us that we can play in that environment, we can do it together. We watched the film, and it was like things we didn't execute well. It shows that the scheme works. Things that we missed, we miss a spill or whatever the case may be, if we make that spill, if we make that adjustment, the scheme works. The confidence is going into the next game 100 percent execution, and I do believe when we came out to practice today, we had that mindset. We didn't need a pep talk. We didn't need, you need to do this, you need to do that. It wasn't a coach-led practice. It was a player-led practice."

New Home

Playing in front of a huge crowd at a historic venue was something the players will never forget, but Colorado State wants to use this season to start creating some memories at Canvas Stadium. Saturday's game with Middle Tennessee State is the home opener, a date they all anticipate for a clear reason.

"The fans. It's easier for your family to come and they're in the front row," Kamara said. "The fans are amazing. Our fans are just there, and they give us energy. Making a big play, they're roaring."

The team would also like to turn it into a true home-field advantage, which it has not been recently.

The Rams were 4-2 the first season Canvas Stadium opened, but are just 6-13 since, including a 1-5 mark last year. A first game always brings excitement and enthusiasm, especially from the students back on campus, but the goal is to keep them coming game after game.

"I think we have a great stadium, and when fans show up, they bring great energy," Tanner Arkin said. "We have to show them we've been working hard and get all the fans to keep coming toward the end of the season."

Norvell has been part of the trend. As a visiting coach, he's 2-1 at Canvas Stadium, winning his final two trips to Fort Collins. Now that it's his home, he expects the winning to continue. He also expects his squad will be the type of team fans will want to watch live.

Home is what the Rams will make it, and Norvell wants to make it the place to be.

"We get to come home and play in our stadium, and we want to play great when we play in Canvas," he said. "We want to really play with a tremendous pride and energy. We've also taken a lot of pride over the years of how we respond after we lose games. It's hard to win, and after you lose, you have a certain hunger to play again, and we do.

"I'm really excited to play in front of our fans. I've played in this stadium before, but never as the home team, so I'm excited about that."

Here and There

This will be the first meeting between the two programs …. Middle Tennessee State is one of nine teams on the schedule to have been bowl-eligible a season ago, three coming in the first three weeks … Colorado State is 7-3 in the past 10 home openers, 3-2 at Canvas Stadium … Two of the top-10 crowds in Canvas history have come during home openers – including the biggest crowd ever, 37.584 for the first game at the facility vs. Oregon State in 2017 … In addition to four players making their first career start last week, 10 others saw their first game action.

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