FACTS & STATS: Site: Hughes Stadium (34,400) -- Fort Collins, Colorado. Television: None. Home Record: Houston 1-0, CSU 1-0. Away Record: Houston 0-1, CSU 0-0. Neutral Record: Houston 0-1, CSU 0-1. Conference Record: Houston 0-0, CSU 0-0. Series Record: Houston leads, 3-0.

GAME NOTES: Back in action after an early layoff, the Colorado State Rams host the Houston Cougars this weekend in a non-conference bout at Hughes Stadium. The Rams, who began the 2008 campaign with a 38-17 loss to in-state rival Colorado at Invesco Field in Denver, barely made it past Sacramento State in the home opener back on September 6th in a 23-20 decision. Next week, CSU plays its first true road game of the season when it drops in on California in Berkeley. As for the Cougars, they were scheduled to take on Air Force last weekend at home in Robertson Stadium, but due to weather concerns the contest was moved to Dallas and SMU's Ford Stadium where the Falcons slipped by Houston by a score of 31-28. The setback was the second in a row for UH, which fell to Oklahoma State a week earlier in Stillwater. On the positive side, the Cougars did pick up a win in their first game of the season, and while it was an imposing 55-3 decision, it came against Southern University and not another program from the Football Bowl Subdivision. Against the Cougars, Colorado State has lost all three meetings previously, including a 38-27 decision a season ago on the road.

Case Keenum threw for four touchdowns, three of them in a span of barely 15 minutes over the final two quarters, yet he and the Cougars still bowed to Air Force in Dallas on Saturday by three points. Keenum, who also led the program with his 75 yards rushing on 10 attempts, converted 34-of-57 for 362 yards, was sacked three times and picked off once in the losing effort. Mark Hafner had a huge day for the Cougars as well with three of his seven receptions finishing in the end zone. Keenum has now reached at least 300 yards passing four times in his career, but to the dismay of the Cougars, the sophomore has come out on the winning side of those contests just once. Although he did throw a pick in the meeting, Keenum now holds the school record for most consecutive passing attempts without an interception at 219, surpassing the mark of 191 attempts set by Kevin Kolb. Thanks to the efforts of Keenum, the Cougars have not only the top passing attack in Conference USA, it enters this week ranked second in the nation behind only Missouri with an average of 405.3 ypg. Thanks to his aggressive running, the signal-caller is now the top offensive threat in the entire country with an average of nearly 430 ypg as well.

Houston's defense held the Falcons without a single pass completion, but before the Cougars can pat themselves on the back for such a feat, they have to realize that Air Force has fallen victim to such an occurrence a number of times previously. While fans should not get too excited about the pass defense as it pertained to the Falcons, those same people should not be discouraged about the fact that the Cougars surrendered a hefty 380 yards on the ground in a single game either. What Houston should be worried about is allowing an opponent to convert 12-of-20 on third down and score on five out of six opportunities inside the red zone. Taking such a huge hit by the Air Force running game, Houston is now last in CUSA and 115th in the nation in run defense through the first three games of the season with 264.7 ypg allowed. Were it not for the blowout against Southern in which the opponent was forced to put the ball in the air because of the scoring disparity and was credited with a mere 39 yards rushing, the Cougars could easily be the worst run defense in all of college football according to the stats.

Although it has been just two games for the Rams, there should be some level of concern for the team's lack of a running game. Were it not for Gartrell Johnson and his 168 yards on 32 carries thus far the Colorado State rushing attack would be nonexistent. Taking into account every other rushing attempt to this point, aside from what Johnson has been able to do, the Rams have a combined minus-two yards on the ground. With the squad averaging a mere 83 ypg rushing, it not only ranks second-to-last in the Mountain West Conference, it is also 109th among the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision programs at the moment. Last season the team was much more respectable in that department with an average of 166.7 ypg, which means the group has a long way to go just to draw close to 2007's numbers. Quarterback Billy Farris has converted an impressive 68.6 percent of his pass attempts thus far, but with just two touchdowns and three interceptions the results are not as new head coach Steve Fairchild would like. Getting sacked two and a half times per game (seventh in the MWC, 98th nationally) isn't all that encouraging either.

Last season the CSU run defense was simply horrible, allowing more than 207 ypg, which ranked the group not only eighth in the conference but also 107th in the nation. This time around there appears to be some advancement in that area with the unit giving up 129 ypg and yet that still ranks the Rams sixth out of nine teams in the league to this point. Disrupting plays in the backfield before they have a chance to develop is an issue for Colorado State because the team is currently second-to-last in the MWC and 114th in the country in tackles for loss with just three per game. Although, coach Fairchild shouldn't expect all that much from the defense with respect to TFLs because last season the team was 103rd in the nation with only 5.17 TFLs per game. Of the squad's six stops behind the line, two have come from the efforts of Tommie Hill (seven tackles) who just happens to have the only two sacks of the season thus far. With an average of 11 tackles per game, sophomore linebacker Ricky Brewer already has more solo stops than any one of his teammates has total stops.

By putting up a strong comeback bid against the Falcons last weekend, Houston has shown that a game has to be played for 60 minutes, which is enough of a reason to give the Cougars an edge in this outing.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Houston 35, Colorado State 14

Saturday, September 20th, 3:30 p.m. (et).