FORT COLLINS — Bring on the Wolf Pack.

If Colorado State is going to win its first regular-season conference title in 27 years, the Rams might has well win it outright.

The only way to do that was to beat rival Wyoming on Tuesday night. It required a last-second 3-pointer for the second time in four days, but at this point, these Rams seem to prefer to do things the hard way.

This time it was Prentiss Nixon who played the role of hero. The sophomore guard hit a step-back, fadeaway 3 from the top of the key with 5 seconds left to lift Colorado State to a thrilling 78-76 win over rival Wyoming on at a nearly-sold out Moby Arena.

“There really is something about this team that is special, more special than any team I’ve ever had,” said CSU coach Larry Eustachy, whose team has won seven in a row and 10 of 11. “They just find a way to win.”

The dramatic victory — which again sent the CSU student sections spilling onto the floor after the final buzzer, just like Saturday after Emmanuel Omogbo’s game-winning 3 — sets up a huge matchup for CSU’s regular season finale Saturday at Nevada (23-6, 12-4).

If the Wolf Pack win at San Jose State (14-13, 7-9) on Wednesday, the winner of Saturday’s game in Reno will be crowned the outright Mountain West regular-season champions. Even if the Wolf Pack lose to the Spartans, they would still be co-champs with a win over the Rams.

Colorado State hasn’t won a conference title since winning the second of two straight WAC championships in 1990. The program’s only MW title of any kind came when they won the conference tournament in 2003.

Nixon finished with a team-high 23 points, preventing a second-half collapse by CSU in which the Rams (21-9, 13-4) led by 11 with just less than 10 minutes to go. He scored five of his team’s final six points, initially giving CSU a three-point lead with 1:21 to play after the Cowboys had come all the way back to go up one with 2:39 to go on a free throw by Justin James.

James, who scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the second-half rally, gave the Pokes the lead again a few possessions later, sinking what appeared to be a game-winning 3 with 17 seconds to go, redeeming himself after missing both free throws 11 seconds earlier.

That set the stage for Nixon, who grabbed the inbound, dribbled up the left side of the court, used a screen from Nico Carvacho near the top of the arc, stepped back and fired.

Swish.

James got off a heave just past midcourt before the buzzer, but it was wide right.

“Gian (Clavell) fouled out, so someone had to take the shot,” Nixon said. “I pushed it quick, and then slowed it down and just waited for a good look. And I got it.”

The Rams came out hot in front of its largest home crowd of the season, taking a 14-2 lead four minutes in. The fast beginning was part of stretch in which they made 8 of 9 shots to build a 16-point lead midway through the first half.

Wyoming responded with a 17-4 run to make it a one-possession game on a 3 by Hayden Dalton at the 6:51 mark before a triple by Nixon in the final seconds of the first half gave the Rams a 48-41 lead at the break.

CSU double up that lead in the first nine minutes of the second half, going up 14 on a three-point play by Gian Clavell. But after that it was mostly Cowboys, who went on a 11-0 run later in the frame to tie it at 66 with 6:15 to play.

Nixon scored 18 of his points in the first half on his way to the second-highest scoring game of his career to help provide a proper sendoff for seniors Clavell and Omogbo.

“It means the world,” Nixon said of winning for the two seniors. “I mean, me and (Emmanuel) basically came in here together. And when I got here, Gian took me under his wing, and was killing me with his post moves. They paid off today. I hit two turnarounds, and I learned that from him. I just learned tenacity and just give heart 24/7.

“Hitting that shot for these guys, it means the world to me to send them out on a good note.”

The Rams’ leading duo also enjoyed a nice showing in what could be their final home game, with Clavell going for 17 points before fouling out late and Omogbo totaling 13 points and 12 boards.

It was Omogbo’s 13th double-double in conference play, breaking the league’s single-season record.

“We keep giving fans what they want to see,” Omogbo said. “I hope next year they come out for these guys and they pack Moby. If they pack Moby like that all the time, it’s going to be hard for (next season’s team) to lose, because the crowd got really loud and Justin James missed some key free throws that he would have made if it was anywhere else.”

The Rams won for their eighth straight time on senior night, matched a team record with their 13th win in MW conference play and clinched their first series sweep since 2013.

Dalton, a Chaparral High School product, added 17 points for the Cowboys (17-13, 7-10), as did and former Widefield standout Herndon.

Sean Star: 970-669-5402, sstar@reporter-herald.com or twitter.com/seanvstar