Mike Bobo just got that much closer to the boot.

No, not that one.

If you’re CSU athletic director Joe Parker, and you’re still hesitant about pulling the trigger on the football coach at CSU — even after a 17-7 loss to Wyoming late Friday night on the frozen tundra in Laramie, even after 12 straight losses in rivalry games and rows of empty seats — we’ve got two words for you:

Clay Helton.

As in, here’s what Helton’s 2020 recruiting class at USC looked like, via 247Sports.com, as of early Saturday morning:

National rank: 76

Conference rank: 11

At USC. That SC. The SC where a coaching brain trust of you, me, and a chicken pecking plays from a call sheet would have enough talent on hand to somehow luck our way into 6-6.

Eleventh.

Not nationally.

In the Pac-12.

When your pitch man is a lame duck, and everybody from here to Pyongyang knows he’s a lame duck, it’s better to pull the trigger a year too soon than a year too late.

Bobo, 2-13 lifetime with the Rams vs. CU, Air Force and Wyoming, quacks with a limp these days.

And everything about how CSU finished against the Pokes left the faithful feeling an old, familiar chill.

Last October, Wyoming humbled the Rams in Fort Collins with a true freshman signal-caller. Friday night, the Cowboys (7-4, 4-3) used a third-teamer behind center to get a fourth straight Border War victory over the line.

Sometimes, it’s just not your series. Or your night. In the Rams’ first possession of the second half, after clawing back in the cold to knot the game at 7-7, Bobo — for the second weekend in a row — elected to roll the dice at midfield early in a rivalry game.

Against Air Force, it was a fake punt up four on fourth-and-4 in the third period, at the CSU 47, a gambit that confounded both logic and the football gods. In Laramie, it was quarterback Patrick O’Brien, not the fleetest of foot even in ideal weather, attempting a sneak on fourth-and-1 at the CSU 44.

No dice.

Thanks to a timely interception, the Rams (4-7, 3-4) had somehow escaped Bobo getting cute at Canvas Stadium two weekends ago.

With Wyoming, though, not so much: The Cowboys got the ball back on downs and marched 44 yards on 10 plays over the next 5:41, punching in a touchdown that gave the hosts a seven-point lead on an evening where the frigid conditions made seven feel like seventeen.

Then again, when you’re gambling with Parker’s money — a buyout of $5.5 million through Dec. 31 and a salary that’s slated to go up to a cool $2.0 million on New Year’s Day — why not roll them bones?

Nice work, if you can get it. Or lose it.

That buck stops with the head man.

So does this one: In seven losses, the Rams have been outscored in the second half by an average margin of 21-8. In the last 15 days, they’ve been lapped by Air Force and Wyoming in quarters three and four by a combined margin of 38-7.

Throw in the season-opening loss to CU at Mile High, and in three trophy games — trophies no CSU player has held aloft since 2015 — the Rams have been outscored after halftime, on average, by a count of 22-6.

So halftime speeches aren’t exactly a Bobo strength. Neither is salesmanship, based on what the 2020 class at CSU looked like, also via 247Sports, as of early Saturday:

National rank: 117

Conference rank: 5

A cursory glance at the CSU athletic ticketing site Friday showed plenty of upper-deck seats left for that Nov. 29 finale vs. Boise State: $48, plus a $2 fee, per pop. The cheapest parking option was listed at $25.

For a family of four in one Subaru Outback, that’s $225, right there, if you’re looking for an excuse to spend on Black Friday. Chances are, the kids would prefer a Nintendo Switch.