FIRST AND TEN
Colorado Mesa will play the final game of the back-to-back home games this week as they play host to two-time National Runner-up and No. 4 ranked Colorado School of Mines on Saturday at Stocker Stadium.

This weekend's festivities hover around the annual Steak and Crab Fest hosted by the Colorado Mesa men's and women's wrestling programs. All-you-can-eat Steak, Crab, Pie, Potatos and more. Find tickets at CMUMavericks.com/tickets.

The Orediggers enter this week's contest at 4-0 with wins over West Texas A&M, Washburn, Chadron State and Black Hills State. They are ranked No. 4 in this week's AFCA National Poll.

The Mavericks and Orediggers will play for the Nyikos Cup this weekend. More information on the Nyikos Cup in the matchup section of the notes. 

ROUNDUP
Colorado Mesa ran their winning streak to six games against Chadron State after an 18-3 win last Saturday at Stocker Stadium. It was the first conference win for CMU this season and extended their winning streak dates back to September 28, 2019 as the Mavericks defeated the Eagles 42-30 in Chadron, Nebraska.

Junior running back Aiden Taylor became the first running back this season and the first since October 21, 2023 to rush for 100-yards in a game. Taylor had 116 yards on 23 carries (5.0 yards per carry) in the win.

Sophomore safety Jason Thome finished the game with two interceptions in the game giving him eight in his career. The Arvada native's first interception was run back 55-yards for a touchdown. His second was the final play of the game on a hail mary attempt.

Sophomore linebacker Charlie Smith kept his streak of 10 tackle games alive with a 10 tackle game against the Eagles. He is tied for the conference lead with 44 tackles. 

The one down note that we wont dwell on very long is on special teams where the Mavericks missed all three extra points (two blocks, one miss) and a field goal in the game.

THE MATCHUP
The Mavericks and Orediggers are meeting up for the 48th time in the two program's history with Colorado Mesa holding a 31-16 edge over Colorado School of Mines. Despite the edge in the all-time series, the Orediggers are 10-4 in the last 14 meetings.

This weekend's matchup with Colorado School of Mines will be the battle for the Nyikos Cup, named after longtime faculty and supporter of both schools Dr. Michael Nyikos. Dr. Nyikos was the Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Colorado Mesa and the Vice President of Student Affairs and External Relations at Colorado School of Mines. Colorado School of Mines leads the cup series 9-4.

The Mavericks lost last season's affair in Grand Junction 52-0 where they only gained 229 yards of total offense and allowed 213 Oredigger rushing yards.

Last Five Matchups with Mines 
Oct. 7, 2023: L, 52-0 in Grand Jct.
Oct. 8, 2022: L, 48-21 in Golden
Oct. 23, 2021: W, 26-21 in Grand Jct.
Oct. 5, 2019: L, 56-20 in Grand Jct.
Sept. 29, 2018: L, 72-31 in Golden

KNOW YOUR FOE
Colorado School of Mines is coming off their second straight NCAA National Championship runner-up season after falling to Harding in the final game. They havent seemed to slow down yet as they are 4-0 and have won 23 consecutive Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games that dates back to October 23, 2021 when the Orediggers lost on the road 26-21 to...........Colorado Mesa.

The Orediggers are headed up by Pete Sterbick in his second season at Mines. Sterbick was the offensive coordinator under the previous regime and has done well. He is 18-1 in his time at Mines and was 9-11 at his previous head coaching stop at MacPherson, an NAIA school in Kansas. Sterbick has an offensive minded background and is responsible for the quarterbacks in the program. 

Redshirt senior Evan Foster is behind center for the Orediggers and comes in having completed at least 20 passes in every game. He has thrown for nearly 1,200 yards and eight touchdowns so far this year. He has a pair of record-setting receivers to throw to in Flynn Schiele (297 yards receiving last week) and Max MacLeod (nearly 4,000 yards in his career).

Linebacker Jaden Healy leads the Oredigger defense with 22 tackles and three quarterback hurries. Healy had a season-high eight tackles against Chadron State in the narrow win. Defensive back Devyn Lauer leads the secondary with four pass break-ups and an interception.

TALL TASK AHEAD
The defense has been the backbone of the team all season but they may be facing their toughest task to date this weekend as teh Orediggers come into the game ranked No. 10 in total offense in the country at 460.0 yards per game with a large chunk of that coming through the air. The Maverick pass defense is ranked No. 3 nationally in pass defense at allowing 121.5 yards per game. Something will have to give come Saturday.

Jason Thome was named RMAC Defensive Player of the Week following his two interception performance against Chadron State. He now has eight interceptions in his career which ranks No. 15 on the Maverick all-time interception list. His next interception will put him in a tie for No. 12 on the list with the likes of Brandon Waymire and Josh Padilla. 

In our weekly look at sophomore linebacker Charlie Smith, he continues to be a tackling machine for the Mavericks as he leads the RMAC with 44 total tackles and has a streak of four straight games with at least 10 tackles. He ranks fifth nationally in total tackles at 11.0 tackles per game. Wilfredo Diaz of Edinboro is the national leader at 13.8 tackles per game.

KEEP ROLLING
The Colorado Mesa offense is slowly getting up to speed this season but they took a big step with rushing for 148 yards against Chadron State. Six players carried the ball for the Mavericks with Aiden Taylor, Brandon Belgrave and Myles Newble getting a bulk of the carries. If you take out yardage lost for sacks, the Mavericks gained 178 yards on the ground.

Redshirt sophomore Liu Aumavae will get his third straight start at quarterback and looks more and more comfortable each week. His completion percentage is at nearly 60 percent now and he has 495 yards and two touchdowns. He had a completion percentage of 66 percent in the win over Chadron State. Quezon Villa leads the receivers with 14 catches for 183 yards while Jack Burke has both touchdown receptions on the season.

An interesting note from the Chadron State game is that no play went for more than 20 yards in the game except the interception return for a touchdown from Jason Thome and a 27-yard punt return by Kash Bradley.

MAVS ON THE TUBE
Colorado Mesa and KREX/KGJT TV are continuing their partnership by allowing patrons to view all RMAC and home games this year through the RMAC Network. Viewers will be able to access the video broadcasts through CMUMavericks.com/TV along with WesternSlopeNow.com.

While those games will be broadcast on TV, fans may still also watch the game on the RMAC Network by visiting CMUMavericks.com/TV

RMAC PRESEASON POLL
Colorado Mesa was picked to finish fourth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference this season after finishing with a 6-5 record a season ago. The Mavericks finished in a tie for fourth place with Black Hills State last season with a record of 5-4. CMU started the conference season with a 1-3 record but closed out the season by winning four of their final five games that included a season finale win over New Mexico Highlands. 

2023 National Runner-up Colorado School of Mines was the unanimous selection to win the RMAC again as they garnered seven first-place votes. They were followed by Western Colorado, who qualified for the 2023 NCAA Playoffs, and CSU Puebl0 to round out the top three teams.

COACHING STAFF QUICKIES
Offensive line coach and Offensive Coordinator Trevor Wikre is back where his college football career took place in Grand Junction. Wikre played both defensive and offensive line and holds a place in college football lore after an incident during his playing days. Wikre damaged his pinkie finger at the end of practice during his senior year and had to get it surgically repaired. His options were to get it repaired right and lose his final season of football or amputate and miss one game and play the remaining four. He chose the latter and his story reached People Magazine, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times and ESPN.

Assistant Defensive Line Coach Austin Berk is a former Colorado State Ram player who prepped at Grand Junction High School. His father, Mike Berk, was an All-American offensive lineman for the Mavericks in 1985.

Colorado Mesa added Darrell Funk to the coaching staff during the offseason and he is slated to assist Trevor WIkre with coaching the offensive line. Funk will be making his second appearance on the Maverick sidelines as he coached then Mesa State in the early to mid-90s. Funk has made stops at Colorado State, Ball State, San Diego State, Michigan, Akron, Purdue, Indiana State, Texas-San Antonio, and most recently at BYU.

SIGHTS ON THE SCHEDULE
This will be the second straight season the Mavericks will play a full 11-game schedule and are one of six schools taking advantage of the new zero week in Division II college football. After their season-opening game, Colorado Mesa will have a 'bye' week next week before their home opener with Central Washington. 

The Mavericks will play in five games that feature teams ranked or receiving votes in the preseason AFCA poll and the two Super Region IV finalists from a season ago. They will play three of those five teams at home beginning with the home opener on September 14 against No. 8 Central Washington. Texas A&M-Kingsville (RV), CSU Pueblo (RV), Colorado School of Mines (5), and Western Colorado (15) are all on this season's schedule. 

This season's homecoming game is set for Saturday October 19 as Colorado Mesa will play host to New Mexico Highlands at 1pm from Stocker Stadium. The Mavericks will look to make it 11 in a row against the Cowboys.

OUT ON THE RANGE
The NCAA membership passed a proposal to permit football games to be played a week prior to the Thursday precedeing September 6. The change allows schools the flexibility to schedule and play 11 contests over 12 weeks. It provides the ability to schedule a bye week during the season, benefitting student-athlete health and safety.

New this season all across college football, tablets will be allowed on the sideline to help with game planning and scheme adjustments. In the RMAC, coaching staffs are allowed five tablets to be used with two in the coaching box and three on the sidelines. 

ON THE HORIZON
The Mavericks will hit the road for a matchup with the Adams State Grizzlies in Alamosa at Rex Field next Saturday. Adams State enters this week at 0-4 overall and 0-2 in the conference. They travel to the Cornhusker State for a bout with Chadron State on Saturday.

Colorado Mesa will return home on October 19 to host New Mexico Highlands for their Homecoming Game. Highlands is off to an 0-4 start and is in the middle of the daunting part of their schedule. They play at CSU Pueblo this week after hosting Western Colorado last week.