Rams trying to break skid in rivalry games

Really, it can get worse.

As bad as it was to lose on the final play of the game, as Colorado State’s football team did last weekend when an apparent game-winning touchdown against Utah State was wiped off the board by a penalty, Air Force can throw out a humdinger of a trump card.

How about giving up 21 points in the final 4:32 and losing 35-27 at Wyoming? It was a game that erased any possibility of salvaging a struggle of a season.

Colorado State coach Mike Bobo said he hoped the sting of the Rams’ loss wouldn’t linger, that it wouldn’t really have a chance to with the team back at practice the next day.

“We moved on to Air Force. I talked about, we loved their effort, we loved how they played in the ball game, but I told ’em it’s a bottom-line business and we didn’t finish there at the end, whether we agree with some things or not, we didn’t finish,” he said. “It hurt. It should hurt. But we cannot get mentally beat this week. We have to move forward.”

So the two Colorado teams head into the final week of the regular season knowing it will be a final game.

Happy Thanksgiving. Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m. (CBSSN) at Falcon Stadium.

Both enter the game with 2-5 conference marks.

For the Rams, the whole rivalry thing hasn’t played out too well as of late.

No, they’ve lost four straight to Colorado, three in a row to Wyoming and have dropped the past two to the Falcons. The program hasn’t won at the Academy since 2002.

So Bobo understands it is a motivator, but he isn’t going there. He’s headed some place much darker.

“We haven’t won hardly any (rivalry games) since the first year,” he said. “That’s something that I don’t bring up, but I do talk about that it is a rivalry, and an opportunity to play an in-state opponent that does have a trophy after the game. You want to win to win for the guys in the locker room, and if you do that, you get a chance to hold up a trophy.

“That’s not what we’re really searching for, is a trophy, we’re searching to come together as a team and start to play complete team football and working on the future of this program and let the seniors go out on a good note.”

It’s a lot to ask for team that had the worst performance of the season coming off a bye, then turned around and nearly knocked off the No. 14 team in the nation. For the Rams, there has been no rhyme or rhythm to the 2018 season.

After five consecutive bowl trips, the Rams head into the final weekend looking to avoid a five-game losing streak. CSU did not provide any player access for the media this week, so how they’re feeling is a mystery.