A tall mountain to climb for a team eager to hike.
Colorado State football has not won the first two games of a season since 2011. After reclaiming the Bronze Boot in Week 1 and shutting down Southern Utah this past week, CSU has momentum that hasn’t been felt in quite some time.
It just so happens that as that momentum has built, the toughest test of the year is about to visit town.
The BYU Cougars are ranked No. 11 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 college football poll and present a challenge quite unlike what the Rams have seen so far this season.
The last time CSU hosted a ranked team was when Air Force visited Canvas Stadium in 2023. The Cougars will march into Fort Collins also looking to keep their undefeated season alive, and as the highest ranked team to ever play in Canvas.
“It’s a hefty challenge,” CSU head coach Jim Mora said. “It’s going to be a tough one, and we will fight — and I can promise all CSU fans will fight. … Those are the challenges we love, those are the challenges we live for, so I’m excited about this week.”
BYU is led by 11th-year coach Kalani Sitake, who will face Mora for the second time. The first meeting between the two veteran coaches came nearly 10 years ago to the day on Sept. 17, 2016, when Mora coached at UCLA.
“I have a ton of regard for Kalani and have known him (for) a long time, and you know that his team is going to be tough,” Mora said. “I’ve watched the film — they’re about as complete a team as you’ll find in the country. They’re as good as anyone in the country, you know, they’re a college football playoff contender ranked No. 11 for a reason.”
At the helm of the Cougar offense is 19-year-old quarterback Bear Bachmeier, a sophomore who sprung onto the scene after winning BYU’s starting quarterback job as a true freshman last season.
Bachmeier will be one of the biggest threats standing between CSU and victory. Through the first two games of 2026, he became the fourth player in Big 12 history to open a season with back-to-back games with at least three passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown.
“He’s, like, 6 (feet), 3 (inches), 230 (pounds), so he’s as big as most linebackers in the country,” Mora said. “He’s incredibly bright, he makes great decisions, he can make every throw in the field and he can extend plays with his legs. … He’s become a seasoned player very quickly.”
While BYU has their star quarterback who can make game-changing plays, CSU has a new emerging star of its own: Hauss Hejny.
Hejny has been electric for the Rams since he was named the starter ahead of Week 1. His season statline is already up to 539 passing yards, nine passing touchdowns, 124 rushing yards and a score on the ground as well.
His nine passing touchdowns are currently the second-most in the nation, and the deep ball ability mixed with the chemistry Hejny has shown with his receivers makes the Rams offense a very scary one for any team they face.
“Even the first week of camp, I was telling (Hauss), ‘You’re really calm,’” running back Mel Brown said after the win over Southern Utah. “He’s chilling in the pocket; he’s not stressed out. I’ve been at three different schools and with a lot of different QBs — Hauss just sits back there like he’s a vet who’s been doing it for years, but he hasn’t.”
Hejny has drawn the attention of every Rams fan with his stellar early-season performance and is beginning to see some recognition around the country as well. Hejny’s explosion onto the scene, along with the offense as a whole, has football fans around the country wondering: Are the Rams for real?
“The great thing about these young men is there’s no entitlement,” Mora said. “They want to be the best team that they can be, and so they’re serious about it. … They love to be coached hard, they want to be told the truth and when you’re working with a group like that, it’s rewarding, … it’s fun … and you see improvement.”
BYU brings potential talent advantages on various sides of the ball, leading the Cougars to be heavily favored walk away with a win this weekend. The Big 12 powerhouse will come in with tremendous size on the offensive line, a lethal multiheaded running attack and Bachmeier’s ability to never let a play die — CSU is very much aware they have a tough task ahead of them.
As part of Mora’s philosophy and culture he has brought to Ram country, this green and gold squad won’t back down from an opponent and worry only about themselves.
“This is a big challenge this week, so 2-0 doesn’t mean anything to us right now,” Mora said. “That’s history. What matters to us, and it always will matter to us, is that our mindset doesn’t change regardless of who we’re playing, where we’re playing, what they’re ranked — (it) doesn’t matter. It’s the next challenge, accepting the next challenge and attacking the next challenge.”
CSU and BYU will kickoff at 5:30 p.m. this Saturday, Sept. 19, and will be broadcast on CBS, giving the Rams the chance to introduce themselves to the entire nation.
Reach Devin Imsirpasic at sports@collegian.com or on social media @DImsirpasic.
