Monday Presser: Rams in Middle of Long Run

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Oct 18

5:00 PM

Football

vs Hawai'i

Oct 25

5:30 PM

Football

at Wyoming

Nov 8

12-Days

Football

vs UNLV

Nov 15

1:00 PM

Football

at New Mexico

Nov 22

12-Days

Football

at Boise State

When the schedule was released, the oddity was easy to spot.

So was the challenge.

Colorado State's bye fell during Week 2, meaning the Rams were going to close out the regular season with 11 consecutive weeks of play. Those games were going to take a toll mentally and physically and test the depth the program had developed.

Six weeks into the run, all of the above is true.

"It's typical this time of year. We've played a lot of physical games, and Monday or Tuesday is not a comfortable day for a lot of our players; they're still healing up," Norvell said at his weekly press conference on Monday. "When you play in a good league and you play good talent, you're going to have that. We'll be smart and manage our guys and get them back on the field.

"We've lost a couple of guys for a couple of games, so your depth does get challenged. Sometimes you see that on special teams, so we have to step up and some of our younger players have to take on more of a role on special teams and do a better job. That's going to be really important in this stretch. We have some more physical games in front of us."

The players can feel it, but that's always the case as a season progresses. What the training staff has seen is more players taking advantage of the recovery tools, as has the speed and strength staff.

The veteran players on the squad understand what it takes to remain healthy and as fresh as possible, so they're passing along their tips.

"For sure. Sleep has been a really important thing," cornerback Chigozie Anusiem said. "I usually go to sleep kinda early, like 9 p.m., but I've been going to sleep at 8:30, 8 o'clock, just to get the actual recovery. We have those watches (which track recovery), the whole team kind of, so we've been really prioritizing recovery, making sure we're able to play fast.

"Our recovery has been like the main thing we have to get done. We have a mix of old guys and young guys. Me being a sixth year, it's not the same as when I was 18-years old running around, being able to come back on Monday's and be 100 percent fresh. Just getting in the ice baths, getting with the trainers, getting extra time with Coach Hope (Nepstad) for stretching and stuff."

As the season progresses, the coaching staff holds back some of the more experienced players who play a lot of snaps in games early in the week. It gives them rest and gives their backups needed reps. Practice times also start to get cut a little shorter week by week

Added Kick

Jordan Noyes has given the offense a jolt of confidence when it lines up for a field goal this season, having made 7-of-9 attempts, including six of his past seven. He connected three times in the game against UNLV.

He hasn't missed inside the 40 this year, but his 55-yarder in the final minute last Saturday proved he has some length to his game. It makes a difference for the guy calling offensive plays, who just happens to be the head coach.

"That kick would have probably been good … He probably had another 7-, 8-yard in that kick, and you could really hear it when he hit it; he really thumped it," Norvell said. "It's really, really a good feeling knowing we have Jordon and he's a mature guy who's been in those situations. Two weeks in a row he hit really huge kicks for u s."

Here and There

Air Force will be just the third ranked team to come to Canvas Stadium. Utah State was No. 14 in 2017, Boise State No. 20 a year later. The Falcons are currently No. 19. The Rams, who have lost 24 consecutive games to ranked teams, are 1-1 against ranked AFA squads. CSU lost in 2010 on the road but won in 1995 on the road. … CSU has not beaten a ranked team since 2002, when most of the current roster was not yet born. … Overall, the Rams are looking to snap a five-game slide to the Falcons.

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