GAME NOTES: The Colorado State Rams try to bring a three-game slide to an end this weekend as they challenge the 12th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs in Mountain West Conference action at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth.

CSU began the season well enough with three straight victories over the likes of Colorado, Weber State and Nevada, but since the 15-point victory versus the Wolf Pack the Rams have fallen to an even 3-3. Last weekend the team dropped to 0-2 in MWC action with a 24-17 setback versus Utah in Fort Collins.

As for the Horned Frogs, a team that is tied for the fourth-longest win streak in the nation at seven in a row, they too played a close game last Saturday but managed to sneak by the Air Force Falcons in a frigid 20-17 contest on the road. The three-point decision was the closest of the season for a TCU squad which had beaten three of the four previous opponents by at least 16 points.

CSU put up a fight last season against TCU and lost by just six points in a 13-7 final, a decision that allowed the Frogs to assume a 5-1 advantage in the all-time series.

"Any close loss is tough," Colorado State head coach Steve Fairchild said of the defeat at the hands of Utah. "I just thought our football team was ready to take this step. It looked like we were going to take it. We kind of had it dialed up and we made some very, very poor decisions late in the ball game to end up losing."

The poor decisions coach Fairchild refers to are the three interceptions on the final three possessions thrown by Grant Stucker. The quarterback finished the game 12-of-24 for 184 yards and a touchdown, but one of his favorite targets ended up being Utah's Robert Johnson who recorded all three picks for the opposition down the stretch to secure the seven-point win for the Utes on the road.

"I can't tell you how horrible it feels," Stucker said of his miscues down the stretch. "I don't think words really describe it. This is definitely one that hurts. I will guarantee that we will come out tomorrow and be ready to turn our eyes toward TCU and work as hard as we can to get an edge."

Dion Morton actually caught the most balls thrown by Stucker, a total of five for 106 yards and a score. On the ground the Rams put the ball in the hands of Leonard Mason who gained a game-high 130 yards and scored once on 24 attempts.

The CSU defense was touched for not only 209 yards on the ground, but also 248 yards through the air as Utah had the Rams defense out on the field for more than 12 minutes in the fourth quarter alone.

Stucker, who had thrown just three interceptions in the first three games of the season, all of which the Rams won, has been touched for six picks in the last three contests. He's tried to offset those mistakes with seven TDs and better than 800 yards passing, but sometimes numbers like that just aren't enough.

Part of the problem for the quarterback is that he is backed by a rushing attack that is sixth in the conference and 85th nationally with an average of only 127.5 ypg. Mason is third in the league with an average of 78.2 ypg on the ground, yet he lacks consistency, going from having a game with triple figures down to a mere 30 yards against an opponent like Nevada.

From a receiver standpoint, Rashaun Greer might be the most dangerous man down the field for the Rams with his 22 catches for 436 yards, but he has yet to cross the goal line, unlike Morton who has 17 grabs for 344 yards and four scores.

The pass defense for CSU continues to cause problems, allowing a hefty 258.8 ypg to rank sixth in the Mountain West and tie for 104th nationally this week. On a positive note, both Elijah-Blu Smith and Nick Oppenneer have three interceptions apiece and that has helped the squad claim a plus-1.0 turnovers per game, which ranks 15th-best in the nation right now.

Fighting not only the Air Force Falcons but also dismal weather conditions in Colorado last week, the Horned Frogs found themselves on the winning side of a difficult 20-17 decision.

Andy Dalton was allowed to complete 16-of-28 passes for 198 yards, was intercepted once and sacked three times as he tried to keep drives alive for the Horned Frogs. Joseph Turner and Jeremy Kerley both registered rushing touchdowns for the Frogs, but the hero of the game turned out to be kicker Ross Evans who knocked through field goals of 38 and 27 yards, the latter coming early in the fourth quarter and proving to be the game-winner. For his efforts Evans was named the MWC Special Teams Player of the Week.

The nation's top run defense heading into the meeting with the Falcons, TCU was knocked down a few pegs as it gave up 229 yards on 45 attempts, yet still the effort was enough to keep the Horned Frogs from blemishing their perfect record.

While the rushing attack continues to hum along for the Horned Frogs, to the tune of 215 ypg (12th nationally) and the run defense finds a way to hold opponents to a mere 83.4 ypg (ninth), the only real concern for the team and head coach Gary Patterson is how to fix turnovers. After five games TCU ranks sixth in the conference and 93rd in the country with a minus-0.6 turnovers per game.

"Obviously, we would love to have more turnovers on defense. The concerning thing is the ones we have had inside the 20-yard line. It's one of those things that if you talk about it, you'll start thinking about it and then you do it. For us, it's better to address it and then move on. We know that we can't do it against good football teams.

The team has recovered only two fumbles and made just four interceptions, one of those coming from top-tackler Daryl Washington who has 43 stops to his credit.

Coming up with his share of significant hits is Jerry Hughes who leads the program with 7.5 tackles for loss and six sacks. Averaging 1.2 sacks per game, Hughes is first in the MWC and tied for fifth in the nation. As a team, the Horned Frogs are tops in the league and eighth nationally with 3.2 sacks per outing.

"Right now, it's about taking the next seven games, one at a time, and finding a way to score one more point," coach Patterson says as he dismisses the idea of focusing on the team's current AP ranking. "Take any season in the last five years and tell me what the scores were. I can't remember them. I can tell you the score of the Utah game a year ago, but that's because it's still in my mind. People don't remember the scores. All they care about are the wins and losses."

What the Horned Frogs need in order to get back into the win column yet again is for Dalton, who has completed better than 65 percent of his passes, to keep from making mistakes in the pocket and also keep himself out of harm's way should he decide to run with the ball as he so often does. Keeping Turner close by as an option is always a smart play for TCU as well.