Colorado State HC Jay Norvell Discusses Critical Week 5 Matchup Against Washington State

Colorado State's 2025 campaign hasn't gotten off to the hottest start under head coach Jay Norvell, and they look to right the ship against Washington State in Week 5.

Attempting to get back to .500, the Rams' quarterback struggles are eerily similar to those of the Cougars ahead of Saturday's matchup.

With expectations to finish among the Mountain West's top teams, Norvell approaches the contest against Washington State as an uber-important game. On Monday, he spoke to the media about their upcoming matchup against the Cougars.

Colorado State HC Jay Norvell on his initial view of the team's matchup with Washington State

"I'm really excited to play a Washington State team that's coming in here. They're coming off a two game losing streak right now, but they have a new a new head coach in Jimmy Rogers who's had a lot of success at at South Dakota State and brought a lot of his players with him. They've turned their roster over, you know, this is a program we've played twice in the last four years and you know, the last time they came in here, they had Cam Ward who ended up being the first pick in the draft and we played him twice with him. [They have a] very different roster than than when we played them before."

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Colorado State HC Jay Norvell on how Washington State HC Jimmy Rogers poses a legitimate challenge

"[Rogers] got a lot of transfers from from South Dakota State. Lot of new players on the roster, playing a lot of young players on special teams. So, we're going to have to do a good job. They're a multiple offense team. They're playing a new quarterback this this past week. They played with more continuity and more consistency. So, I I would imagine they would continue that down that path. Defensively, more of a four down front than we've been seeing. We've seen a couple odd fronts the beginning of the year. This is a more of a conventional front that we're going to see the rest of the season. They've done a good job traditionally with this defense and so we're going to have to be sharp and continue to build on a lot of the things we did on Saturday night."

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Colorado State HC Jay Norvell on handling QB situation before Washington State matchup

"We're going to start Jackson Brousseau. You know, and I looked at a lot of different things and sat down and watched tape with Brayden [Fowler-Nicolosi] this morning and showed him the areas that we need to see improvement. I feel good about that position and I did. I think I think we have a good position. We got a lot of guys in that room that have gotten a ton of reps, and we've added Tahj [Bullock] to that room. So, I think we're more talented in there. We're we're still trying to get to the bottom of what's going on with Brayden and and his play the last two weeks. We're going to coach him up, we love him. He's been a really good player for us and we're going to support him and coach him up."

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