What We Saw: Pursuing More Than Rivalry Trophies

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Sep 5

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FORT COLLINS – They celebrated, as they should.

The Bronze Boot is back in Fort Collins after a three-year hiatus following Friday's 24-10 win over rival Wyoming. It felt great. The Canvas Stadium crowd rushed the field, and the players took turns with the trophy.

It didn't take long for Colorado State coach Jay Norvell to remind folks it was a goal, but there is a bigger prize to chase. The two trophies they've won are nice. They are after bigger prizes.

"We're in playoff mode. We're only as good as how we play every Saturday," Norvell said. "We're a step closer. We've got to go on the road now and play a good Fresno program, and they always have talented players and good skill. It's not an easy place to play in Fresno. It's a challenge.

"We've never let our kids look too far ahead. We'll just go back and do what we do. We know this: We have to prepare and practice to play well. We're not even worried about next Saturday. We'll be worried about Sunday when they come in and lift and Monday when they come in for Fresno."

The only help the Rams need to reach the Mountain West championship is what they can do for themselves. Win the final two games of the season, they will have a spot in the title game on Dec. 6.

The Rams are now riding a five-game win streak. What they've done has worked, and that's what Norvell will keep his team focused on for the near future.

"We just need to make sure that we continue this journey that we're on and we prepare ourselves to play every week," Norvell said.

Deep Down the Roster

Even Jay Norvell mentioned the fact nobody probably knew who Tommy Maher was.

The simple answer is a walk-on freshman from California. More to the point, he's the guy who caught the 53-yard touchdown pass at the start of the third quarter, the final points the Rams would score.

As impressive as it was that he beat a defender on the play, one has to remember the first time he touched the ball he dropped it. That came at the end of the first half, when on fourth-and-goal from the 1, he came in motion and the exchange between he and Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi was not clean, leading to a fumble and a 21-yard loss and what appeared to be a rather big missed chance.

"He's just really worked hard, and he shows a really natural feel for route running. That's not an easy route that he ran," Norvell said. "When Tory (Horton) went down, we used to do a lot of things with Tory, so other players have been auditioning to do a lot of the things we used to do with Tory. Tommy can just really run that route.

"Give Chad (Savage, the receivers coach) a lot of credit. To really have belief in him because he hasn't made a lot of plays, but boy, was he ready to go. I was really proud of him. That was a huge play."

Fowler-Nicolosi gave the youngster – who didn't make his first appearance until the Air Force game a few weeks back – a bit of a pep talk at halftime.

The gist of the message was to shake it off.

"I walked in the locker room and the first person I went to was him. I looked at him and he kind of had his chin down, because he doesn't get a lot of opportunities. Everybody knows that," Fowler-Nicolosi said. "I went up to him and the first thing I told him was the coaches are going to look at how you react to this. This is a huge step for you. I've been there. I had to play at Nevada my first year, did horrible. Threw two picks, like maybe 100 yards. Terrible. The coaches want to see how you react."

The chat ended with the quarterback telling Maher if he responded well, they'd get him the ball. They did. And now they know – and Maher does too – he can make a play.

Plenty of Friends

Nobody seemed to mind the crowd storming the field, and the facilities group was ready to protect the goalposts. It wasn't the first big win under Norvell, but the first one he had plenty of people to celebrate with.

"It was interesting. I was thinking about the Boise game (a Hail Mary win in 2023) and the special ending that game was and there was nobody here to see it," he joked. "I've gotta give (Director of Athletics) John Weber and our staff a lot of credit. Our game-day atmosphere is fabulous. I get caught up sometimes watching all the guys run around in the ketchup outfits and all that stuff, banana outfits … I'm trying to coach football and I'm watching these kids run up and down the field. It's pretty awesome. To keep the kids here until the end of the game and the fourth quarter where it's so important, and they were all there."

He said he lost track of all the pictures he posed for afterward.

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