After four nonconference games and three in a row at Canvas Stadium, Colorado State will open its final season of play in the Mountain West Conference in San Diego.
Following that trip, the Rams will play back-to-back home games before traveling to Laramie for the last Border War game until 2028. Wyoming will not be joining Colorado State in the Pac-12, but the schools have agreed to continue their rivalry after a two-year break and play through 2035.
This is the second in a three-part series profiling Colorado State’s 2025 opponents. This second installment focuses on the Rams’ first four Mountain West opponents.
Oct. 3 at San Diego State, 8:30 p.m., in San Diego
San Diego State will join CSU in the Pac-12 beginning in 2026, so the teams’ Mountain West opener against each other this fall won’t be the last between them.
The Aztecs are coming off a 3-9 season. They were 2-5 in the Mountain West. CSU and SDSU did not play last season. They last time they met was in 2023, when the Rams won, 22-19, at Canvas Stadium.
Offensively, last year’s quarterback Danny O’Neill transferred to Wisconsin, but the Aztecs gained two signal callers from the transfer portal, Jayden Denegal from Michigan and Bert Emanuel Jr. from Central Michigan. Each has his own style and can be dangerous in different ways. Jordan Napier is the team’s leading returning receiver, after catching 43 passes with four touchdowns. The Aztecs hope to have improved their receiving corps and running back room through the transfer portal after several contributors from last year left that way.
Edge Trey White was selected as the Mountain West’s preseason defensive player of the year after totaling 60 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks last season. He will lead the defensive line, while the linebackers will be led by Tano Letuli, who had a team-high 70 tackles last year. Kicker Gabe Plascencia was selected the conference’s special teams player of the year after going 13-for-14 on field goal tries and converting his final 18 PATs after missing his first of the season.
This will be the 38th meeting between the two teams. The Aztecs hold a 22-15 advantage in the series. CSU’s victory in 2023 snapped a two-game losing streak against SDSU.
Oct. 10 vs. Fresno State, 7 p.m., at Canvas Stadium
CSU’s first Mountain West home game will be against another team that will soon join the Pac-12, Fresno State. The Bulldogs were the only team to defeat the Rams in conference play last season.
Fresno State went 6-7 overall and 4-3 in the Mountain West a year ago. The Bulldogs became bowl eligible with their win over CSU and lost to Northern Illinois in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, 28-20.
Under first-year head coach Matt Entz, the Bulldogs will be led offensively by quarterback EJ Warner, a transfer from Rice and son of former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner. Warner will replace Mikey Keene, who transferred to Michigan. Another option for Fresno at quarterback will be Carson Conklin, who threw for 3,620 yards and 34 touchdowns at Sacramento State last season. Elijah Gilliam was the team’s leading rusher last season, going for 466 yards and eight scores. The Bulldogs lost their top three receivers from last season and will rely on some transfers to make plays.
Defensively, Fresno State is led by all-Mountain West preseason defensive back Al’zillion Hamilton, who had 52 tackles and two interceptions last season. The linebacker group will be led by transfer Jadon Pearson, who had 42 tackles last season at Utah State. In the secondary, Simeon Harris returns from injury after coming up with 59 tackles for Utah State two years ago.
Despite losing to the Bulldogs last season, CSU holds a 10-7 advantage in the all-time series. The Rams have lost the past two meetings but won six of seven before that.
Oct. 18 vs. Hawaii, 5 p.m., at Canvas Stadium
CSU will host Hawaii for the first time since 2014 this season, completing another pair of back-to-back games at Canvas Stadium. With the Rainbow Warriors staying in the Mountain West, this will be the last conference game between the two teams.
Hawaii went 5-7 overall and 3-4 in the Mountain West last year, head coach Timmy Chang’s third season.
Offensively, Hawaii is led offensively by a pair of receivers who were named to the Mountain West preseason all-conference team. Pofele Ashlock caught 61 passes for 629 yards and six touchdowns last year, while Nick Cenacle caught 63 passes for 721 yards and six touchdowns. Micah Alejado will lead the team at quarterback after throwing for 585 yards and six touchdowns in four games last season. Most of that (469 yards and five scores) came in the season finale against New Mexico. Landon Sims returns at running back after rushing for 351 yards and a touchdown.
Linebackers Jamih Otis, who led the team with 55 tackles last year, and Logan Taylor, who had 52 tackles, lead the defense. In the secondary, Peter Manuma is back after missing most of last season with an injury. He had 87 tackles and three interceptions two years ago. On the line, Elijah Robinson returns after tying for the team lead with five sacks last season.
This will be the 29th meeting between the two teams. CSU holds a 16-12 advantage in the series. However, the last time the teams met — in Hawaii in 2023 — the Warriors kept the Rams from being bowl eligible with a 27-23 victory in the last week of the season.
Oct. 25 at Wyoming, 5:30 p.m., in Laramie
Before their second bye week of the season, the Rams will look to keep the Bronze Boot in Fort Collins when they play their last game in Laramie until 2029.
The Cowboys are coming off a season in which they won only three games, and only two in the Mountain West, in head coach Jay Sawvel’s first season at Wyoming.
Quarterback Kaden Anderson returns to lead the offense after backing up Evan Svoboda last year. Anderson passed for 955 yards and six touchdowns in nine games. Despite losing much of last year’s receiving corps, several potential playmakers emerged in the spring, including tight end John Michael Gyllenborg, who was second on the team with 30 catches last year, Chris Dorr, and Jaylen Sargent, who averaged close to 21 yards per catch. Sam Scott is back after leading the team with 435 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. The Cowboys also have a pair of preseason all-conference linemen in Caden Barnett and Jack Walsh.
Defensively, Wyoming’s top tacklers from last year are gone, but the team added some via the transfer portal. Among them are linebackers Ethan Stuhlsatz, who had 70 tackles with Lindenwood last year, and Brayden Johnson, who had a 71-tackle, 7.5-tackle-for-loss season at Oklahoma Baptist. Jayden Williams returns to lead the defensive line, while the Cowboys had to add transfers in their secondary.
The Rams and Cowboys began playing in 1899. CSU holds a 59-51-5 advantage in the series. The Rams snapped a three-game losing streak to Wyoming with last year’s 24-10 victory at Canvas Stadium.
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