FORT COLLINS — Two wins, with a bye week in between.

In the first victory, Colorado State’s football team played it’s most complete half of the year in taking a 35-0 lead on UNLV. After a week of polish, the Rams came back and produced a 37-0 victory over Fresno State, the most complete game the team has played.

And it’s not enough. Coach Mike Bobo admitted after the game, the better the team plays, the more picky he’ll become.

“That’s correct. We should never be satisfied with our performance. As soon as you get satisfied, you go the other way,” Bobo said. “We always have to strive to get better and that is what the championship mindset that I have been talking about. That’s what a champion does. Every day he wakes up, he tries to make an impact and get better and dominate in whatever he’s doing — in the classroom, on the field, in the weight room — and that’s the culture we’re trying to build here. We want to dominate as a football program. We have a long way to go but we did a nice job of dominating today.”

That the Rams did. Major kudos go to the defense for shutting out a team for the first time since 1997. An original member of the Mountain West, CSU had been the only team in the conference’s history to not have a shutout. For it to be crafted by the hands of a young defense makes it even more impressive.

Offensively, the Rams were efficient and balanced, rushing for 257 yards, throwing for 237 more and producing three touchdowns on the ground, two through the air. All were scored by players who have been in the program for two seasons or less.

Yet a coach like Bobo who is pushing his team to develop championship-caliber work habits, it wasn’t enough.

They missed a chance to score on the first drive, getting stuffed on fourth-and-short in the red zone. They missed an extra point. There were drives they didn’t complete in the second half, and even though the lineup was filled with reserves, that’s not an excuse.

His players were not taken aback by this thought, but are climbing on board the train of thought.

“That’s what this team needs,” safety Jake Schlager said. “That’s well said. the better that we get, the picker we do need to become. The little tiny details that may not seem like a big deal, need to become a big deal. Just working on being perfect every single play. It’s obviously not going to happen, but you need to strive to be as close as you possible can to that. The better that we get, the more attention to detail we need to pay attention to and just continue to grow as players, as a team. Keep on taking that step.”

Bye weeks can be tricky at times, but Bobo felt that week overall was a continuation of the great week of practice the team had prior to the UNLV game. Heading into the Fresno State game, the assessment was much the same.

At halftime, with a 23-0 lead, Bobo hit them with not having any regrets, not taking advantage of the moment. Each game is an opportunity, and given that, why would a player not put forth a complete effort.

“We only have three games left now,” Bobo said of his message. “Take advantage of every opportunity and work extremely hard year-round for 12 opportunities. Why would we go through the motions for a half? Let’s go out there and play ball and enjoy every minute of it. Have that championship mindset of I’m trying to dominate. I am trying to dominate my job on every play and that’s what we’ve talked about for the last two weeks. I was glad the guys came out and they did it. They took it upon themselves to play that way.”

Now at 5-4 on the season (3-2 in MW play), Colorado State faces option attacks in back to back weeks at Air Force and for the home finale against New Mexico. Both teams rank in the top five nationally in rushing offense, averaging better than 290 yards per game on the ground. After that, it’s San Diego State and the nation’s leader in rushing, Donnel Pumphrey.

Colorado State has improved in that category, ranking 73rd in rush defense at 177 yards per contest. While the Rams have beaten the Lobos six straight games, they have lost to the Falcons on the road the past six trips, and San Diego State has won the past four meetings.

The Rams know they need one more win to become bowl eligible for a fourth-straight year, but Bobo has his team expecting more. The target he wasn’t them shooting for is a clean sweep to close out the year.

The players are falling in line, saying the current good run is simply not enough. And they expect Bobo to keep picking away.

“We can’t get complacent, especially at the end of the year,” quarterback Nick Stevens said. “You have to keep getting better because everybody else you play is going to keep getting better as the season goes on. That’s what we’re going to expect from him, and it’s not going to surprise anybody.”

Another on board — Via his Twitter account, Preston Williams announced he is verbally committing to Colorado State after attending Saturday’s game on an official visit. The former four-star receiver was ranked the No. 7 wideout in the country coming out of high school in 2015 and signed with Tennessee. The 6-foot-4, 210 pounder left the school in October, with coach Butch Jones granted his release to transfer.

Williams, who has 16 catches for 247 yards with the Volunteers, will have to sit out next season. The Georgia native is the 15th known verbal commit for Bobo and his staff.

Mike Brohard: 970-635-3633, mbrohard@reporter-herald.com or twitter.com/mbrohard