FORT COLLINS — Try, try again.

Colorado State’s defense has no other choice, because Option B — New Mexico — is set to come to Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium on Saturday (8:21 p.m.; ESPN2). The first time around — Air Force — didn’t go so well, 485 rushing yards later in a 49-46 loss.

What the Lobos (7-3, 5-1 Mountain West) saw on tape they must have liked, as a young Ram defense struggled to contain on the perimeter as Tim McVey ran for 184 yards and four touchdowns, or the quarterback, with Arion Worthman rushing for 143 more and a score.

What the Rams (5-5, 3-3) saw on tape, as hard as it was to watch, was beneficial. What also gives Colorado State’s defense hope is their track record. True, they have struggled with new things during the season, but they have proven they have the ability to adapt and be better the next time.

Defensive coordinator Marty English felt there were some aspects of the defense his team could handle, and it didn’t always turn out to be true. It also wasn’t a complete surprise to him, either. The same way he expects the unit to be better this week.

“I anticipate that. I do. We have to,” English said. “There’s no other way about it. You’ve got to go back to work, you have to look yourself in the mirror, me as a coach, them as a player. All of us. Where were we wrong, what didn’t we do well, what can we do better, and I do think our kids and our staff are good at going back and working on those things and being better.”

There was a lot to be caught off with as the majority of the unit was seeing Air Force up close and personal for the first time. On film it’s easy to see tendencies and recognize alignments, even trends. What can’t be translated is the efficiency with which an offense operates.

There’s a reason option teams are successful, and that’s because they’re hard to duplicate. That comes through constant practice, not just a week on the field.

“As much as you like to try, not every scout team will be exactly how it is in the game,” defensive lineman Josh Lovingood said. “That’s how football is. You’re watching film, and you can kind of see it, but you can’t really gauge on film how fast it’s going until you actually get out there.”

Now the Rams know, and New Mexico is pretty slick themselves, even if Bob Davie made the transformation just a handful of years back. Now, his Lobos lead the nation in rushing at 347.8 yards per game, keyed by a pair of backs on the brink of 1,000-yard seasons: Tyrone Owens at 927, Teriyon Gipson at 924. Both of them have season-long runs of 83 yards or longer. Gipson has 10 touchdowns on the year, with Richard McQuarley finding paydirt 12 times.

It takes an active unit to shut them down, and that’s what CSU head coach Mike Bobo has seen this week. On tape, he saw a defense that was slow to react, thus, not very aggressive. With things being more familiar this week, the aggression is starting to return.

It will help if safety Jake Schlager is back, and he was on the field Wednesday at practice, though Bobo wasn’t ready to give him an all-clear with a hamstring ailment. The junior went down early in the first quarter, forcing Justin Sweet to slid into a new role, and while he did play well (an interception return for a touchdown), it created ripple effects. Having both on the field will be a plus.

Senior linebacker Kevin Davis, who had 15 tackles, has seen his teammates start to learn from their mistakes and apply the proper corrections.

“I think we’re going to be more disciplined,” he said. “We know we have to play downhill. We know the way we have to play; we can’t play the way we played against Air Force on the perimeter. Again, we’re going to be prepared, and the game plan is going to be pretty simple. We just have to play hard.

“Anytime you play an option team, you have to do your responsibility first. You have to get the ball, you have to get to the ball in numbers and gang tackle.”

English hinted some personnel changes could come into play, too, with safety Jamal Hicks looking good in limited action, as well as infusing the speed of Arjay Jean and Bryan Ohene-Gyeni, possibly. He noted the Rams didn’t string out the quarterback enough, allowing him to pitch quick instead of delaying that action, allowing gaps to be closed quicker.

That will help, but so will being more physical. The positive was the two turnovers created, the negative there were only four tackles for loss, and negative plays are especially key in disrupting an option team. The Rams also were not getting off blocks on the edge, and that gave McVey specifically room to roam.

“This week, we’re just going to be physical in all aspects of it,” cornerback Tyree Simmons said. “We’re not going to think too much about it, we’re just going to play football. It was just us being able to wrap our minds around it.”

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