Remembering Hughes: 1980s Colorado State didn’t have much success in the 1980s, posting a losing record overall and at home. Record: 52-58-2 overall; 23-26-1 at Hughes Stadium Coaches: Four in all; Sark Arslanian (1980-part of 81); Chester Caddas (last half of 81); Leon Fuller (1982-88), Earle Bruce (1989) Vs. the ranked: The Rams lost all seven contests at Hughes. This week: A Legends Weekend, the 1966 team that upset No. 10 Wyoming with the famous bounce pass will be honored at the game, with around 60 members expected to be in attendance. The crowd is encouraged to wear 80s clothing, and the music of the decade will be played throughout the game.

FORT COLLINS — Steve Bartalo will coach his sons in a middle school game Saturday afternoon, then head back to his home to catch a nap.

He’ll need it, because Colorado State doesn’t kick off until 10:15 p.m. as he sits on the couch in his Florida home to watch his team play the one game that still really matters.

“Without a doubt. There was no doubt. That was for everyone,” Bartalo said of the Border War rivalry with Wyoming. “That was for the people who lived in the towns. They took it personally. The alumni, they took it personally. And it was for the people just now at the school. The important thing was the upperclassmen passed it down to us young guys. When I was a redshirt freshman getting my butt kicked, it was, ‘This is Wyo week. We’ve got to get ready.’ That added to it.”

The decade that was the 1980s were lean years for the Rams. The program was 31-71-1 in that span, 23-26-1 at home with just two winning seasons. There were four different coaches involved as Sark Arslanian’s tenure was coming to an end and Earle Bruce’s tenure was just beginning to bookend the 10 years. In between, Chester Caddas had a half season to finish up for Arslanian, and Leon Fuller had his go at turning things around.

“I still think it’s fun. If you’re not having fun, you’re nuts, because you get treated pretty damn well,” said Tom Ehlers, who played from 1980-84, went on to be an assistant coach with the program and now stands as the director of football operations. “It was a fun time. It wasn’t much fun at times because of where we were as a program and probably because guys like me were playing. After 35 years in this business, I realize really how important a guy like Leon Fuller and Sark were as they rode through that thing, because they weren’t given a lot to work with. Leon moved the place forward, even though he didn’t have many resources. He did it with good people, good coaches and good assistants. I think we were a pretty good group of guys, and we’ve stayed in touch since then.”

Ehlers said players will always remember the milestones — first games, first sacks, first touchdowns, even some big wins, like when Steve Fairchild marched the Rams down the field in 1980 in the final minute to beat Wyoming. That rivalry is the one game that still remains fresh above all others — nearly to the play — of each time you participated.

It brought out the best in both sides, which as the players remember, also meant the worst in them. And the fans.

Steve DeLine, who went on to kick in the NFL, remembers a snowy game in Laramie one year, and every time he lined up for a field goal, he was pelted with snowballs. His next trip there was a sunny day, so he was hopeful.

“I’m thinking all right, no snowballs,” said DeLine, who hit a 58-yarder in the 1986 win over the Cowboys. “I lined up for my first field goal attempt and a bunch of oranges came flying in. You play to win, I guess. It was exciting, it was fun.”

That’s one way of looking at it.

“It was nasty. I mean, people pulling at your body parts under the pretense they were trying to get a fumble,” Bartalo said. “Spitting in your face when you’re facemask to facemask with them. It was to be expected, and I’m not saying it was one-sided either. It went both ways. It wasn’t somewhere you wanted to take your young children and have them on the sidelines.”

As much as the game meant to them as players, they admit they didn’t really understand its full grasp. They loved it when Fum McGraw would come into the locker room and work them up to a fury, explaining just how important the outcome was.

At the time, as players, they wanted to win. They wanted bragging rights over a team just across the border, a roster filled with players they had known or even played with in high school.

“I think you learn that later. Part of that is it was such a tough time,” Ehlers said. “The community, there’s always been our stalwarts, but we didn’t earn the support we get now. You kind of rallied the wagons and said it’s for us. That might be a bad attitude, but in that time, that’s what it was when I played here. It was beat Wyoming. It was for us to beat Wyoming.

“Jeff Romero was my roommate, and he talked about his dad and the boot. I thought that’s cool. It didn’t even register like it does now, how precious that is. He was a walk-on here, and I’ll talk to him tomorrow night, we’ll talk about the Boot and what it means.

“We were young. I guess that’s what it is. I’m very appreciative now.”

Jeff Romero is the son of Dan, who wore what is know known by all as the Bronze Boot during combat in Vietnam. It has been the traveling trophy in the series for the past 48 years, each team laying claim to it 24 times heading into Saturday’s meeting.

DeLine has stayed close to the program, with his son Ben kicking for the team, and now Joe is a walk-on punter. His love affair for the program and Hughes continues to this day, and he’s at every game.

And he still loves the Border War, but he didn’t realize the full scope of what it meant off the playing field until he joined the fans in the stands.

“Now, from being more of a fan, it’s so weird to be in the stands at the game, but you see the fans, they’re crazy some of them,” DeLine said. “The stuff that’s going on ….

“I think they kind of feed each other. I felt that from the players, I felt some of it. I remember Steve Bartalo running and them stepping on his hands and some of the words being said on the field. You had it from the players, I didn’t realize it was as bad or even worse at times in the stands like that. Being a part of that and seeing it, when you’re wearing green and gold and you walk into the stadium at Laramie, sometimes it gets pretty hairy, and I’m sure it’s the same way for Wyoming fans at Hughes. Seeing that, I guess I didn’t realize the fans were as into it like the players were. It adds to it. It’s fun.

“I love the rivalry.”

Bartalo left the program as the NCAA leader in all-time carries with 1,211. Let that sink in for a bit. In CSU history, Ron Harris sits second, and he’s not even close at 760.

All those carries — and hits — were of no concern back then for Bartalo, who still is the Rams’ all-time yardage leader at 4,813 yards. His only concern back then was somebody would find out his secret.

“I didn’t want to come off the field. First of all, I didn’t think I was that good to start with,” said Bartalo, who came to the program as a walk-on. “So the last thing I wanted to do was voluntarily come off the field and have somebody take my spot. That’s how I got my chance. Somebody needed to come out for a third-down play. I ran on, and then I didn’t come off the field for four years.

“Maybe I’m a little different, but I wanted to stay out there.”

As he sits on his couch and watches Saturday from afar, part of him would still like to be out there on the field. He said his wife, Christy, will make fun of him, because as he watches, he’ll move on the couch the way he thinks the running back should go.

He said he feels all those hits some mornings, but he can still walk, he can still jog and he still loves the Rams. When it comes to the Border War, that’s the one game he’d still like to suit up for, even briefly.

“I still think I have three plays left in me, at least,” he said with a laugh. “She tells me you’ve got one, and then you’re going to blow your hamstring out.

“She’s always honest. I look at some of these games and think I could run through that dang hole. I might not be able to run as far. I’d love to play in a game like this. I hope that the players understand how big it is, that they don’t go through it and not realize it until it’s passed, how important that game is to the people. It’s not just the football team, it’s the people in the schools, the community. That’s an important game to them.”

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