FORT COLLINS — Will he stay … or will be go?

For months, it has seemed a foregone conclusion that Colorado State junior wide receiver Rashard Higgins would declare for the 2016 NFL draft and not return for his senior season.

Higgins’ answer when asked about it has been a stock one, and he gave a version of it again after practice Tuesday, with the Rams (5-5, 3-3 Mountain West) continuing preparation for a Saturday game at New Mexico.

“We’ll see after the year, see how everything is going,” Higgins said. “I’ll talk to my mom and my coaches and see where I stand. If that’s the right decision to make, then that’s what I’ll do.”

On Saturday night, after the Rams beat UNLV 49-35 in their final home game, CSU coach Mike Bobo decisively said he believed that unless the 21-year-old receiver from the Dallas area is projected as a first-round pick, he should return for his senior season. College programs can submit paperwork, asking the NFL for evaluation of where underclassmen might go in the draft, and CSU will do so for Higgins.

Higgins said he agreed with his coach … well, kind of.

“I was telling myself that if I’m a first- or second-rounder, that’s an indication that I probably should leave or anything like that,” Higgins said. “But Coach Bobo, he’s right. If I’m not a first-rounder, it’s a good indication that I should come back.”

So what if he’s projected as a second-round pick?

“You just have to weigh the odds,” he said. “That’s when I’ll sit down and see what I need to do.”

Higgins missed one game with a foot injury, and he has 57 receptions for 769 yards, for an average of 13.5 yards per catch, and eight touchdowns. He’s behind his pace of last season, when he also missed one game, finished with 96 catches for 1,750 yards, an 18.2 yard average, and 17 TDs.

He did have three TD catches against UNLV on Saturday, and he and sophomore quarterback Nick Stevens are developing more rapport as Higgins has shaken the nagging injuries.

In addition to that, Higgins had to come to grips with the reality that Bobo is a proponent of the running game and, as the play-caller, is more selective about putting the ball in the air than was Jim McElwain and the previous staff.

Higgins conceded that he pouted at times this season when he wasn’t targeted as much.

“I wasn’t used to it,” he said. “I was used to Coach McElwain, and we usually just (threw) the ball every other play. But now that things aren’t coming my way, it’s just adversity. You just have to grow and be willing to overcome, and that’s what I’m doing. It was just making me a better football player. …

“I’m no longer pouting. I grew up, and I know how to overcome things. I know that everything’s not going to go my way. I mean, I was a kid before, a sophomore, but now I’m a junior and I’m a little wiser and I know why things happen. Coach Bobo came from Georgia and, I mean, he had Todd Gurley in the backfield, so why not run the ball? I can see the reason why.”

In the past couple of weeks, Bobo repeatedly has praised Higgins’ renewed dedication and work habits in practice.

“He took a ton of reps today, and he practiced really, really hard, and he was tired after practice,” Bobo said Tuesday. “I’m really proud of how he’s practiced, really three weeks now in a row. I believe he’s going to play well again.”

Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or @TFrei