FACTS & STATS: Site: Hughes Stadium (34,400) -- Fort Collins, Colorado. Television: The Mtn. Home Record: Wyoming 4-2, CSU 1-4. Away Record: Wyoming 1-4, CSU 1-4. Neutral Record: Wyoming 0-0, CSU 0-1. Conference Record: Wyoming 2-5, CSU 1-6. Series Record: Colorado State leads, 52-40-5.

GAME NOTES: The battle for the Bronze Boot takes place in Fort Collins this Friday as the Colorado State Rams host the Wyoming Cowboys in a Mountain West Conference showdown at Hughes Stadium. Left out of the postseason in 2006 even though they were bowl eligible, it is beginning to look like a similar scenario this season for the Cowboys because of the way they are closing out the campaign. Heading into the second week of October, Wyoming had won four of its first five games, but since then the squad has fallen in five of six, including three in a row. After being punished by Utah (55-0) for the comments made by head coach Joe Glenn about guaranteeing a win in Salt Lake City, the Pokes followed that up with a 35-10 loss to BYU last Saturday. The defeats now mean that the team has to win this weekend just to break even at 6-6, which means that there's still a slim chance of earning a postseason invite. As for the Rams, they at one point were carrying one of the longest losing streaks in the nation, but put an end to that with a 48-23 thrashing of UNLV on the road last month. More recently, CSU picked up its second victory of the season in a 42-34 decision against Georgia Southern at home last Saturday, which means the Rams still have only one win this year versus a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Rams retain a 52-40-5 lead in the all-time series with Wyoming, but it was the Pokes who punished CSU a year ago in a 24-0 shutout in Laramie. The win snapped a two-game slide for the Cowboys against the Rams.

The Cowboys did little to stand in the way of BYU claiming at least a share of the MWC title for the second season in a row with the 35-10 decision in Laramie last weekend. Nearly 20,000 watched as Karsten Sween connected on 17-of-29 passes for 217 yards and one interception, while being sacked three times. Fellow signal-caller Jacob Doss, who was the starter at the beginning of the 2006 campaign before being pulled in favor of Sween, also saw time in the pocket and completed 7-of-11 passes for 51 yards in the loss. Wynel Seldon scored the lone touchdown for Wyoming on a two-yard effort in the third quarter, and yet he still finished with only 28 yards overall, the running game a miserable nine yards on 24 attempts. Seldon leads the team with six rushing TDs this season, but he's averaging just 3.7 yards per carry as he and Devin Moore (889 yards, four TDs) try to compensate for a crumbling passing attack. Ranked eighth in the conference and 97th in the nation with just 189.6 ypg, Sween and Doss have little to distinguish the unit through the air this season and it shows in the team's 18.6 ppg which has them ranked not only last in the MWC but also 109th in the nation this week.

The pass defense for the Cowboys was exposed time and time again by Max Hall and BYU last weekend, as the signal-caller finished with 331 yards and three touchdowns to three different receivers. As if that were not enough, Wyoming's front line was also helpless in allowing Harvey Unga to rush for 110 yards and two touchdowns on 23 attempts. Once considered the pride of the MWC as far as defens is concerned, this group has taken its lumps the last few weeks but don't tell that to Chris Prosinski, Quincy Rogers and John Prater who all recorded at least 12 tackles in the recent setback. By all accounts, the way this team has played the last several weeks the defense should be falling apart, but actually the unit is still ranked 28th in the country at stopping the run permitting 120.1 ypg and 29th versus the pass (206.1 ypg). There are certainly a number of quality performers on the squad, what with Julius Stinson posting 78 tackles and a team-best five interceptions, while John Fletcher has 11.5 tackles for loss and a team-high eight sacks to tie him for second in the Mountain West.

Caleb Hanie completed just 13-of-16 passes last weekend, but it resulted in 244 yards and three touchdowns in the victory over Georgia Southern. In addition to the outstanding effort by Hanie, Gartrell Johnson added 136 yards and another two scored on 19 rushing attempts, followed by Kyle Bell who also crossed the goal line once on 12 carries. Damon Morton was the top receiver for the group with four catches for 100 yards and a touchdown as CSU produced 507 yards of total offense. Hanie has now made good on 63.5 percent of his pass attempts for 200.9 ypg, but his 16 touchdowns have been almost matched by his 14 picks. Morton is now up to 36 receptions for 720 yards and six scores, all of which are team highs for the Rams. Johnson and Bell have combined for more than 1,200 yards and nine touchdowns and yet the group is still third in the conference with 168 ypg on the ground.

While some of it may have come in garbage time, Georgia Southern was allowed to generate 509 yards of total offense against a Rams defense that nearly watched a 28-3 advantage slip away. Even though the Eagles trailed by such a huge margin, the visitors never deviated from their offensive approach, which meant running the ball 60 times for 349 yards and four touchdowns. CSU simply could not get a handle on Jayson Foster who raced for 195 yards and three scores, nor could the Rams lock down Lamar Lewis who tallied 115 yards and a score on the ground as well. In what should have been a game in which the visitors were held in check, Colorado State's defense fell apart and is now ranked 110th in the nation in stopping the run, giving up an average of 217.1 ypg. The pass defense for the Rams certainly looks much better with just 206 ypg allowed, but opponents are probably well aware that they can run time and time again versus the squad and find success, so opting to go over the top doesn't make much sense anyway. While teams have thrown for more than 300 yards just twice this season, foes have gained more than 300 on the ground three times.

This 99th edition of the Border War, the oldest rivalry for both programs on the football field, means far too much to coach Glenn and the Cowboys to allow Colorado State to steal away a critical win.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Wyoming 24, Colorado State 13

Friday, November 23rd, 2:00 p.m. (et).