Monday Presser: Rams Building Through Character

Upon arrival, Jay Norvell was dealing with a football program which was not winning games at the end of the season, nor was it a program which had success in closing out games very well.

It's something he's had to fix, an area where his Colorado State football program has started to turn a corner. The Boise State win on the final play. Rallying past Utah State with 29 points in the fourth quarter. Digging deep to find a way to move past Northern Colorado. Style points don't factor in, just wins and losses, and those were games the Rams would not have mustered a win out of in some seasons past.

"It's all learned behavior. You have to invest a lot in your work ethic, in the weight room, in the way that you practice, in the way that you study the game," Norvell said Monday at his weekly press conference as the Rams prep for Saturday's game with UTSA. "I told the team today, I was fortunate to play on a great team at the University of Iowa my senior year.

"It was a team that won 10 games and won a conference championship. One of the things you learn when you play on teams like that is how you have to focus for four hours. A football game has got a lot of plays. It's got a lot of ups and downs. There's a lot of mistakes that are made. But you have to learn how to focus for four hours, and you can't be the guy who lets your teammates down. And I think once you have a locker room full of guys who don't want to let each other down, you really start to see progress on the field."

He spent the first couple of seasons trying to build toward that mentality. There have been hiccups along the way – he pointed out his second season when a few games were lost in the closing moments – even early last year. But the belief system has changed during his tenure, a positive sign.

That ability to do so -- to focus for an entire Saturday, to move through the highs and lows of a contest without blinking – is something Norvell attributes to a trait of his players.

"I think it's about character. I think it's about just doing the right things every day," Norvell said. "That's how I've been raised in this profession is that the character you show on Saturdays is built every day. With going to class, doing things the right way in the weight room, wearing the right clothes, treating people right with respect. All those things matter. They add up on game day. And I think we have a team that's full of character.

"I don't believe they get down on each other when things go wrong. We stuck together in that game, whether you liked how it was played or not. We did stay together, and we did things at the end of the game that we needed to do to win. That's important. I think we can build on it. I think we have a football team that we just need to build consistency with."

Back in the Pocket

Norvell said Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi would start this week at quarterback, after ceding some repetitions with the first offense to his backup, Jackson Brousseau, during the bye week.

"He's been our quarterback, and he is our quarterback," Norvell said. "Jackson Brousseau is ready. We practiced Jackson with the ones some last week. Our guys are comfortable with Jackson being in that one huddle. Brayden is our guy. We've got to get him playing good and feeling confident. This is an important week for us to do that."

Fowler-Nicolosi has started 26 consecutive games heading into Saturday's contest, and Norvell likes that experience. However, the junior hasn't looked as crisp with his throws this season, his completion percentage hovering at 53 percent as opposed to the 61-percent plus it was the prior two seasons.

So, coach and player have looked at mechanics and talked about situations. They've watched film and dissected situations, looked for positives. He likes getting outside the pocket, and he has played well in 2-minute drills.

"I think Brayden understands his role on this team. I think his role is intensified obviously because he's the quarterback," Norvell said. "But I think all of our players have got to understand how their execution and understanding of situational football affects the whole team.

"I've spent a lot of time with Brayden over this past week watching ball, talking ball, talking about situations. How he can change his thought process and how to help the football team. At the end of the day that's his job. His job is to complete passes and get his teammates involved and put us in a position to win. I think he sees that a little bit better than he has. Brayden is a good football player. He's won a bunch of games for us. He's got a lot of experience."

Here and There

Colorado State is 2-0 against UTSA, both of those games came when the Roadrunners were just making the jump up in competition (2015-16). … Linebacker Owen Long leads the conference in tackles per game, averaging 12. The true sophomore captain has hit double figures in both games played. … Norvell and UTSA coach Jeff Traylor have coached together, even lived together for a few months when both were at Texas.

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