Mark Kiszla: CSU Rams exorcise demons against Air Force and now have a path to the conference championship game | Sports reporting

AIR FORCE ACADEMY – It's cool that Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi is the first Colorado State quarterback since Bradlee Van Pelt to leave Falcon Stadium with a win.

And that's not too shabby. But do you know what hot sauce would be?

If BFN were the first CSU QB to win the Mountain West championship since BVP.

The Rams fought with all their might in the fourth quarter to beat Air Force 21-13 on Saturday night, winning on the road against their in-state rival for the first time since – get this – 2002.

“I was a year old,” CSU running back Avery Morrow said. “This is crazy.”

For the first time in his three-year tenure, Rams coach Jay Norvell recorded a win against Air Force, Wyoming or Colorado after losing six straight to the opponents CSU fans love to hate.

Did he feel the pressure?

“I’ve felt the pressure for 40 years as a football coach,” Norvell said.

Don't look now. But not only are the Rams in first place in the Mountain West with a 2-0 conference record, they also have a clear and friendly path to the league championship game.

Back then, the Falcons beat Colorado State on home soil just by showing up. But this year, when Air Force's starting lineup features 41 different players, including three quarterbacks, it often feels like coach Troy Calhoun is holding open tryouts on game day.

CSU applied its will and superior skill slowly and then all at once against Air Force, turning a scoreless tie into a 14-0 lead in just under three minutes late in the first half.

Running back Kobe Johnson fired a dart between the green “1” and the round “0” to the chest of tight end Vince Brown II for a 23-yard score on a trick play at 5:28 of the second quarter. And on the ensuing AFA offensive play, fullback Kemper Hodges fumbled the ball on the first snap, setting off an effortless 23-yard touchdown drive.

At that point, it seemed like the only real competition would be AFA fans locking up their stadium seats on a chilly October night to be the first to feel the warmth of the heated seats in the cars waiting to speed out of the parking lot .

However, the Falcons refused to fold. After watching their deficit balloon to 21-0 in the second half, they scored 13 times in the fourth quarter and pushed CSU until the final second expired when a Hail Mary pass from quarterback John Busha fell incomplete the goal line failed.

Now it's time for Colorado State to go full throttle and head to the conference championship game. I'm not sure the Mountain West scheduler would have been so kind to the Rams if it had become known that they were happy to abandon the league in favor of the Pac-12.

But the Rams are now 2-0 in the conference and picking the five teams left on their schedule couldn't be smoother and sweeter if they were picking them up fresh from the oven at Voodoo Donuts. The combined record of the five opponents awaiting CSU through Thanksgiving weekend is 12-24.

Nevada, Wyoming and Utah State all stink. CSU will face high-scoring New Mexico at Homecoming next weekend. Their most rigorous testing numbers will be at Fresno State in November. Even better: The Rams don't play any of the other three undefeated teams in the conference. So if his team minds its own business, Norvell can watch Boise State, UNLV and San Diego State inflict the agony of defeat on each other.

In the opening month of the season, Colorado State was defeated in Texas and outclassed by Colorado. Those scars have made the Rams tougher.

“We know what a good football team looks like. “This team has been through a lot, not just this year but in years past,” said Morrow, who ran for 132 yards against AFA.

“Last year we were 5-6 and on the verge of going to a bowl game, then it became heartbreaking to lose a game to Hawaii by a field goal. The older guys don't forget that… They weren't at a bowl game, they weren't anywhere, they didn't do anything. They didn't play in December. And that’s the goal.”