Colorado State University Athletics
Rams Open Camp With Focused Intent
8/1/2025 1:20:00 PM | Football
Norvell urges “We Over Me” for fourth season
Setting goals can be easy. Just write something down, maybe say it aloud for all to hear. Fine. The hard part is designing how you reach said target.
That can be the tricky part, but as Jay Norvell opened his fourth fall camp as the leader of Colorado State's football coach, he not only laid out the what for his team, but the how. And the first step is the most important.
'We Over Me' will be the team mantra.
"It just really hit me this summer that it kind of answers the question of what you need to do in all areas. The best quality a team can have is unselfishness and that people are setting their personal agendas aside," Norvell said Friday at the end of the first practice. "And that's what we need to do as a program and as a team. And I think if our kids will do that, we're going to have a great year.
"This is NIL era, transfer portal era. There's a lot of focus on individuals and we want the focus to be on the team. And so that's why that's our theme."
All in it together is what it will take to win the Mountain West title, something the program did in the inaugural year of the conference of 1999. It's something they know they have to do this year to attain and even higher goal – play in the College Football Playoff.
The Rams won the Mountain West again in 2000, then 2002. But that was the last time CSU claimed the crown, and as they exit the league for the Pac-12 next year, Norvell would like bookends to denote their stay.
Norvell brought the team together on Thursday for the preseason meeting, addressing the team with passion. Not just who they will be on the field, but off of it. Yet the true reason for them all being together is to not just play the sport they love, but to win while doing so.
For that to happen, he told them they all – coaches, support staff and players – have to approach each and every day with each other in mind.
Offensive lineman Aaron Karas doesn't see it as a departure from things past, just an emphasis on driving the true nature of the point home.
"I mean, honestly, that's how it's been every year. Just think about everybody on the team over myself," Karas said. "We have a three-hour break today. Instead of going home and taking a two-hour nap, you're going to go in there, get some recovery, watch film. So, I prepare myself so I'm not messing up on the field, messing up everybody else."
JaQues Evans is new to the team, not the game. He's a rush end with plenty of mileage under his belt and a year removed from an injury which has put an urgency on his final season. He praised strength and speed coach Hope Nepstad for helping to get him right during the spring. He was familiar with the defense run by new coordinator Tyson Summers, but not the program.
The vernacular was something he had to catch up with and what it meant when Norvell was talking about grit. He went home and looked it up, noted the difference between it and grind – another popular term. Overall, he liked the culture he stepped into, and he's particularly on board with not only the goals set, but the brotherhood Norvell's requesting.
As a leader, he knows there's a bit of an onus on him to bring it all together and what his role is in the buildup.
"We over me is I have to put myself last. It might sound crazy, but, you know, I got to put my team first," Evans said. "I've got a lot of experience; you know, I've been playing for quite a bit of time right now. So, coming out here, putting myself last, making sure them boys is in the right spot.
"You know, we all got the call. You know, we're all on the same page. Keep me in check. You know, keep me on my P's and Q's. Keep me in my playbook. Keep me learning a load of things."
With the transfer portal, there is turnover on every roster. Norvell doesn't see that as an issue in trying to develop a cohesiveness in task to a roster of more than 100 players. He feels a culture of hard work has been established, but a culture is an abstract which takes on different personalities with roster change. The foundation is there; the materials are varied.
Karas equates it to an offensive line – and unit which must be tied together – just on a bigger scale. He feels they all have the same drive at heart when it comes to winning. Doing it while moving as one may take some time, but not as much as one might think.
"Everybody's been in here in the summer. It's just freshmen, and even the freshman guys are getting in with us," Karas said. "On field, I'd say I'd give it by the end of this week.
"I think everybody knows their little things … Like me and Aitor (Urionabarrenechea), we have our little things we just know because we've just been working together."
At one point in Thursday's meeting, Norvell had different players stand up. Some were young returners, others transfers, with a mix of veterans. He told each of them their season was new. They were no longer young, their teammates were looking to them for leadership or they're maturity had to translate into greater production.
On great teams, he said, the really good players perform at a high level, and they bring their teammates along. To move as one. Then he told them the team their superpower would be their connectiveness.
Friday had to be the start, but it was only the first day. Grit was expected, as it will be continuously, and the grind will soon follow. But all of it – and all of them together – were going to be needed to get to where the Rams want to go.
That can be the tricky part, but as Jay Norvell opened his fourth fall camp as the leader of Colorado State's football coach, he not only laid out the what for his team, but the how. And the first step is the most important.
'We Over Me' will be the team mantra.
"It just really hit me this summer that it kind of answers the question of what you need to do in all areas. The best quality a team can have is unselfishness and that people are setting their personal agendas aside," Norvell said Friday at the end of the first practice. "And that's what we need to do as a program and as a team. And I think if our kids will do that, we're going to have a great year.
"This is NIL era, transfer portal era. There's a lot of focus on individuals and we want the focus to be on the team. And so that's why that's our theme."
All in it together is what it will take to win the Mountain West title, something the program did in the inaugural year of the conference of 1999. It's something they know they have to do this year to attain and even higher goal – play in the College Football Playoff.
The Rams won the Mountain West again in 2000, then 2002. But that was the last time CSU claimed the crown, and as they exit the league for the Pac-12 next year, Norvell would like bookends to denote their stay.
Norvell brought the team together on Thursday for the preseason meeting, addressing the team with passion. Not just who they will be on the field, but off of it. Yet the true reason for them all being together is to not just play the sport they love, but to win while doing so.
For that to happen, he told them they all – coaches, support staff and players – have to approach each and every day with each other in mind.
Offensive lineman Aaron Karas doesn't see it as a departure from things past, just an emphasis on driving the true nature of the point home.
"I mean, honestly, that's how it's been every year. Just think about everybody on the team over myself," Karas said. "We have a three-hour break today. Instead of going home and taking a two-hour nap, you're going to go in there, get some recovery, watch film. So, I prepare myself so I'm not messing up on the field, messing up everybody else."
JaQues Evans is new to the team, not the game. He's a rush end with plenty of mileage under his belt and a year removed from an injury which has put an urgency on his final season. He praised strength and speed coach Hope Nepstad for helping to get him right during the spring. He was familiar with the defense run by new coordinator Tyson Summers, but not the program.
The vernacular was something he had to catch up with and what it meant when Norvell was talking about grit. He went home and looked it up, noted the difference between it and grind – another popular term. Overall, he liked the culture he stepped into, and he's particularly on board with not only the goals set, but the brotherhood Norvell's requesting.
As a leader, he knows there's a bit of an onus on him to bring it all together and what his role is in the buildup.
"We over me is I have to put myself last. It might sound crazy, but, you know, I got to put my team first," Evans said. "I've got a lot of experience; you know, I've been playing for quite a bit of time right now. So, coming out here, putting myself last, making sure them boys is in the right spot.
"You know, we all got the call. You know, we're all on the same page. Keep me in check. You know, keep me on my P's and Q's. Keep me in my playbook. Keep me learning a load of things."
With the transfer portal, there is turnover on every roster. Norvell doesn't see that as an issue in trying to develop a cohesiveness in task to a roster of more than 100 players. He feels a culture of hard work has been established, but a culture is an abstract which takes on different personalities with roster change. The foundation is there; the materials are varied.
Karas equates it to an offensive line – and unit which must be tied together – just on a bigger scale. He feels they all have the same drive at heart when it comes to winning. Doing it while moving as one may take some time, but not as much as one might think.
"Everybody's been in here in the summer. It's just freshmen, and even the freshman guys are getting in with us," Karas said. "On field, I'd say I'd give it by the end of this week.
"I think everybody knows their little things … Like me and Aitor (Urionabarrenechea), we have our little things we just know because we've just been working together."
At one point in Thursday's meeting, Norvell had different players stand up. Some were young returners, others transfers, with a mix of veterans. He told each of them their season was new. They were no longer young, their teammates were looking to them for leadership or they're maturity had to translate into greater production.
On great teams, he said, the really good players perform at a high level, and they bring their teammates along. To move as one. Then he told them the team their superpower would be their connectiveness.
Friday had to be the start, but it was only the first day. Grit was expected, as it will be continuously, and the grind will soon follow. But all of it – and all of them together – were going to be needed to get to where the Rams want to go.
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