Keys to the game: How can Colorado State football beat UNLV?

LAS VEGAS — The Colorado State football team hasn't had a winning record within a season since 2017.

The Rams haven't won four games in a season since 2019.

Jay Norvell and CSU could put checkmarks next to both of those mini goals with a win Saturday. It will be a tough one, though, as the Rams face an upstart UNLV team seeking bowl eligibility for the first time since 2013.

Here are keys to the game for CSU to pull off the upset.

Move on from the Hail Mary

Talk of moving on from a result is usually reserved for rebounding from a tough loss, but in many ways the same thing applies now.

CSU (3-3, 1-1 Mountain West) is coming of a stunning 31-30 win over Boise State on a final-play Hail Mary. The Rams went viral with the play and players surely have heard the praises through the community since the game. That's all great (and much better than the flip side), but it still requires mental fortitude to put last week's result to the side to make sure it's not a one-off performance.

"We’ve challenged the players. Human nature is after you have a really great effort is you relax. You have to challenge yourself to prepare and really stay in the moment and try and do the best job you can today, tomorrow, Friday leading up to the game," CSU coach Jay Norvell said.

"That’s what we’ve challenged the guys to do. If you want to be a good team you’ve got to go back to the well and you’ve got to get ready to prepare to play again."

Every week in college football is a test. Last week it was about coming back after a bad loss to Utah State. This week is about carrying a big win into another good performance.

Find offense early

The Rams are still trying to find consistency in their offensive identity. CSU is now more aggressive and leads the Mountain West in passing with Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi at quarterback. The Rams too often go through long lulls without success, though.

Last week it was a full first-half drag, including four-straight three-and-outs to begin the game. It was part execution errors and part caution as CSU is trying to reduce turnovers.

The Rams will likely look to open it up earlier this week.

"In the games we haven’t started well we kind of mess around and we get to third-and-short and we don’t convert. We have to find a way to be more productive earlier in downs. Some of that is game-planning and some of that is just our execution and getting certain players involved. We need to start fast and we need to do the things that we’ve been doing well early in games. Maybe we’ve gotten away from that a little bit. At the end of the game we were really comfortable with everything we were doing, so we’ve got to be mindful of that as coaches and get them off to a good start," Norvell said.

"Sometimes we try to play too carefully, or the game plan kind of dictates us to do certain things. We really need to hang our hat on things we do well."

Don't let UNLV control the pace

UNLV (5-1, 2-0 MW) and CSU are tied atop the leaderboard in turnovers forced (14) but UNLV has only lost the ball five times, one of the top marks in the nation.

That helps lead into UNLV's Mountain West-leading 37.5 points per game built on a dominant run game (221 yards per game). UNLV has three players with more than 200 rush yards and can make big plays with a variety of different players.

Big plays have been the Achilles heel of CSU and UNLV's top rushers all have home-run potential. The Rams must not allow those huge plays.

The game will likely be a high-scoring affair, but attempting another late comeback like last week is a hugely risky strategy.

Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on Twitter and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Keys to the game: How can Colorado State football beat UNLV?