THE WEEK IN REVIEW
Colorado Mesa controlled the line of scrimmage and the clock as the Mavericks beat Fort Lewis 30-13 Saturday afternoon at Ray Dennison Memorial Field in Durango.

The Mavericks (6-4, 5-3 RMAC) rushed for 209 yards, held the ball for 36:25 and converted 12-of -17 third downs. CMU scored on all five of its trips inside the red zone.

The CMU defense set the tone in the first quarter. Atiba Fitz broke up a fourth down pass at the Fort Lewis 42 and Cole Hansen capped the ensuing 12 play, 42-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Hankins. On the Skyhawks' next possession, AJ Adams forced a fumble that Noah Williams recovered at the CMU 19. Hansen then led a 12 play, 75-yard march and finished it with a 1-yard touchdown run for a 13-0 lead. Fort Lewis scored late in the second quarter to make it 13-7 at the half.

Special teams sparked the second half. Jaden Casanueva blocked a Fort Lewis punt on the opening possession, and Hansen scored from 1 yard out six plays later for a 20-7 lead. The Mavericks followed with a 15 play drive that took 8:05 off the clock and ended with a 23-yard Kale Purvis field goal. On the next snap, Gibson Leafgreen intercepted Jacob Morris, and Amari Brown finished a 60-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown run to make it 30-7. Leafgreen also blocked the extra point after the Skyhawks' late touchdown.

Brown ran for 95 yards on 22 carries and added 21 receiving yards. Hansen completed 13 of 21 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown and added 45 rushing yards and two scores. Trek Keyworth caught four passes for 50 yards.

The defense held Fort Lewis to 31 rushing yards on 13 carries. La'Markus Reed had eight tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss, and Adams added eight tackles. Kade Street recorded a sack, George Soppe forced a fumble and CMU turned two takeaways into 13 points.

KNOW YOUR FOE
Black Hills State (5-5, 3-5 RMAC) comes to Grand Junction looking to end a three-game losing streak and clinch a winning season. Picked eighth in the RMAC preseason coaches' poll, the Yellow Jackets have already beaten that projection.

They started fast, opening 3-0 with a 24-21 win at Sioux Falls, a 44-31 victory over Dakota State and a 44-8 rout of Adams State. After a 44-36 loss at New Mexico Highlands, they bounced back to beat Fort Lewis 28-20 and win 21-13 at South Dakota Mines.

The schedule got tougher in the second half. Black Hills State lost 42-10 to No. 7 Western Colorado and pushed No. 4 CSU Pueblo before falling 38-31 in Pueblo. Last week, the Yellow Jackets lost 31-19 to Chadron State on Senior Day in the Battle for the Buckle.

Black Hills State averages 27.0 points per game and allows 28.6. The offense is balanced, with 139.9 rushing yards and 187.7 passing yards per game. The defense has been one of the RMAC's better units on third down, holding opponents to a 34.2% conversion rate, and the Yellow Jackets control the clock, averaging 31:32 in time of possession. CMU leads the all-time series 10-4 and won last year's meeting 45-38 in Spearfish.

Josh Breske is in his seventh season leading his alma mater. He was named the program's 29th head coach in December 2019. A former standout offensive lineman for the Yellow Jackets, Breske also played professionally for the Wyoming Cavalry of the American Indoor Football Association. Before returning to Spearfish, he coached at Robert Morris, Chadron State, Sioux Falls and Lindenwood, where he was the offensive line coach from 2017-19. Breske led Black Hills State to three consecutive winning seasons from 2022-24, and a win Saturday would give him a fourth.

Quarterback Kade Weber is a dual threat who leads the offense as both a passer and a runner. He has completed 59.8% of his passes for 1,754 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. He is also the team's leading rusher with 493 yards and nine rushing touchdowns. His best passing performance came against Dakota State, when he threw for 322 yards and two touchdowns and added a rushing score. He ran for two touchdowns at Pueblo. His top target is Jayden Williams, who has 47 catches for 593 yards and five touchdowns, including a 205-yard game against Dakota State.

Jayshon Liles is the most disruptive player on the Black Hills State defense. He shares the team lead with 62 tackles and leads the Yellow Jackets in tackles for loss (9.5), sacks (4.5) and forced fumbles (3). He had a season-high 13 tackles in the win at South Dakota Mines and two sacks against Dakota State. Along with Jeramiah Singleton (9.0 TFL, 4.0 sacks, 12 QB hurries), he gives Black Hills State a front that will test CMU's offensive line, which allows the fewest tackles for loss per game in the RMAC. The secondary is led by preseason All-RMAC cornerbacks Joshua Faulkner (3 INT) and Jaheim Roper (2 INT).

Last Five Matchups
Nov. 1, 2025 Spearfish, S.D. W, 45-38
Nov. 2, 2024 Grand Junction, Colo. W, 23-13
Sept. 23, 2023 Grand Junction, Colo. L, 25-23
Sept. 24, 2022 Spearfish, S.D L, 31-28
Nov. 6, 2021 Grand Junction, Colo. W, 52-9

KEYS TO THE GAME
Colorado Mesa (6-4, 5-3 RMAC) closes the regular season Saturday at 1 p.m. at Stocker Stadium against Black Hills State (5-5, 3-5 RMAC). The Mavericks have won three straight, most recently a 30-13 win at Fort Lewis that extended their series winning streak over the Skyhawks to 11 games. Black Hills State has lost three in a row to No. 7 Western Colorado (42-10), No. 4 CSU Pueblo (38-31) and Chadron State (31-19). CMU leads the all-time series 10-4 and has won the last two meetings, including a 45-38 win in Spearfish last season. A win would give the Mavericks a 7-4 record, one more win than last season's 6-5 finish.

1. Keep the run game rolling. 
The ground game has carried CMU all season. The Mavericks average 200.7 rushing yards per game at 5.0 yards per carry and have scored 23 rushing touchdowns. They added 209 more rushing yards at Fort Lewis where Amari Brown carried a season-high 22 times and Cole Hansen ran for two touchdowns. Black Hills State allows 4.5 yards per carry. Colorado School of Mines ran for 276 yards against the Yellow Jackets, South Dakota Mines had 238 and Western Colorado had 201. The battle up front will matter. CMU's offensive line allows the fewest tackles for loss per game in the RMAC while Black Hills State's Jayshon Liles (9.5 TFL, 4.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles) and Jeramiah Singleton (9.0 TFL, 4.0 sacks) are among the league's most disruptive defenders.

2. Contain Kade Weber. 
The Yellow Jackets' offense runs through their dual-threat quarterback. Weber has completed 59.8% of his passes for 1,754 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. He is also the team's leading rusher with nine rushing touchdowns and he scored twice on the ground at Pueblo. His top targets are Jayden Williams (47 catches, 593 yards, 5 TD) and Joseph Randle (15.1 yards per catch, 5 TD, 73-yard long). Black Hills State has allowed 24 sacks, so CMU's pass rush has a chance to get home. Noah Williams (4.0 sacks), O'Marius Dimry-Lockhart (3.5), Kade Street (2.5) and Keyshaun Ceaser (2.0) will need to rush with discipline and keep Weber from escaping the pocket. CMU's run defense, which allows 3.4 yards per carry, held Fort Lewis to 31 rushing yards last week.

3. Keep Bryce Coulson in check. 
Coulson is one of the most dangerous return men in the RMAC. He has returned a kickoff 95 yards and a punt 69 yards for touchdowns this season, and he averages 27.2 yards per kickoff return and 16.0 per punt return. He also averages 16.0 yards per carry on offense. CMU's coverage units will be key. Kale Purvis leads the RMAC in punting, and opponents are averaging just 7.3 yards per punt return against CMU. The Mavericks' special teams have also been making plays lately: they blocked two kicks at Fort Lewis, and Noah Greer returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown against Highlands.

4. Win on third down and control the clock. 
Black Hills State likes to shorten games. The Yellow Jackets average 31:32 in time of possession and held the ball for more than 41 minutes at Pueblo. Their defense allows opponents to convert just 34.2% of their third downs, among the best marks in the conference. CMU's third-down offense has been getting better. The Mavericks went 12-of-17 at Fort Lewis and are converting 43.5% this season. Doing that again would let them control the clock, as they did when they held the ball for 36:25 in Durango.

5. Win the turnover battle and finish drives. 
CMU is now +1 in turnover margin after forcing two fumbles and an interception (by Gibson Leafgreen) at Fort Lewis. Black Hills State is even in turnover margin but it turned the ball over three times against Chadron. Cornerbacks Joshua Faulkner (3 INT) and Jaheim Roper (2 INT) give the Yellow Jackets playmakers in the secondary. In the red zone, CMU has scored on 34 of 37 trips, with 26 touchdowns. Black Hills State's defense has allowed scores on 27 of 30 trips. Converting those chances into touchdowns would give CMU a strong finish to the regular season.

REED CHASING A MILESTONE
Senior linebacker La'Markus Reed enters Saturday's regular-season finale three tackles away from a milestone season. Reed has 97 tackles through 10 games, and three more against Black Hills State would give him 100 for the season.

Reed has been the anchor of the CMU defense all year. He leads the team in tackles by a wide margin, 26 ahead of Gibson Leafgreen, and averages 9.7 stops per game. He has reached double figures three times, including a season-high 15 against Chadron State.

He has been at his best lately, too. Reed has made 20 tackles over the last two games against New Mexico Highlands and Fort Lewis. He has also added 8.0 tackles for loss, a sack and an interception this season.

Reed has another chance to make an impact on Saturday. Black Hills State runs the ball 36 times per game behind dual-threat quarterback Kade Weber, who leads the Yellow Jackets with nine rushing touchdowns. That should give Reed plenty of opportunities to reach 100 in his final regular-season game at Stocker Stadium.

LOSSES HAVE COME AGAINST THE BEST
Colorado Mesa's 6-4 record comes with an important detail: every loss has come against a team that was ranked in, or receiving votes in, the American Football Coaches Association Top 25.

The Mavericks opened the season against No. 5 Minnesota State, falling 38-14 at Stocker Stadium. They later lost 31-17 at home to No. 8 Western Colorado and 35-23 at No. 5 CSU Pueblo on back-to-back Saturdays in September. Their fourth loss was a 31-24 Homecoming defeat to Colorado School of Mines, which is receiving votes in the AFCA poll.

CMU has been competitive in most of those games. At Pueblo, the Mavericks ran for 248 yards and held the ball for more than 36 minutes against the RMAC's top team. Against Mines, they scored on all four red-zone trips and had the ball with a chance to tie late in the fourth quarter.

Against everyone else, the Mavericks are a perfect 6-0. They have outscored those opponents 250-138, an average of nearly 42-23 per game.

Turnovers have been the biggest difference between the wins and the losses. In its four losses, CMU committed seven turnovers and forced just two. In its six wins, the Mavericks have turned the ball over only four times while forcing 10.

Saturday's regular-season finale against Black Hills State gives CMU a chance to finish 7-0 against unranked opponents and 7-4 overall.

PRESEASON POLLS & ALL-RMAC
Colorado Mesa was picked to finish fifth in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll after finishing in a tie for fourth-place during the 2025 season. The Mavericks finished 6-5 last season and 5-4 in the conference, tied with Colorado School of Mines whom they defeated on October 24. 

Colorado Mesa earned a total of 52 votes that came with a second place vote and a third place vote as voted on by the league's 10 sponsoring schools.

CSU Pueblo was picked to repeat as the RMAC Champion with 80 points including eight first place votes and one second place vote. Western Colorado was picked second with 69 total points with one first place votes, five second place votes and two third place votes. Colorado School of Mines was picked third with 62 points on two second place votes and four third place votes.

2025 NCAA Playoff team Chadron State was picked fourth with 60 points on one first place vote, one second place vote, and three third place votes. 

The Mavericks had four players named to the Preseason All-RMAC team. Three of the four selections came on the offensive side of the ball with Alex Turpin earning a spot at tight end and seniors Calem Grimble and Cooper Mumford earning spots across the offensive line. Turpin played in all 11 games in 2025 and caught 22 passes for 180 yards and four touchdowns while Grimble and Mumford played in and started all 11 games on the left side of the offensive line.

Senior defensive back Gibson Leafgreen was named to the Preseason All-RMAC Team on the defensive side of the ball. In 2025, he played in 11 games and finished with 56 total tackles, four passes defended and two interceptions. 

EYES ON THE SCHEDULE
• Season opener at home on a Thursday night Colorado Mesa will host NSIC power Minnesota State on Thursday August 27 at 6:00 PM to open the season. It will be the first meeting between the two schools and will be the first time the Mavericks have opened the season on a Thursday at home since the 2021 season when they defeated William Jewell 40-3.
• Back-to-back road trips to open conference play The following two weeks the Mavericks will have their longest two game road trip of the season — first at Eastern New Mexico on September 5, then at South Dakota Mines to open RMAC play on September 12.
• Gauntlet of 2025 playoff teams
The Mavericks will take on three straight 2025 NCAA Playoff teams — Western Colorado (home, Sept. 19), CSU Pueblo (road, Sept. 26), and then Chadron State (home, Oct. 3). That's a brutal three-week stretch right in the heart of the schedule.
• Six home games 
The schedule features six home games and five road games for the upcoming season, with three of the final five games at home and the two final road games being the shortest trips of the season. 
• Halloween Matinee 
A Halloween afternoon kickoff will feature the Mavericks taking on New Mexico Highlands at Stocker Stadium on Saturday October 31, with many different spooky promotions expected and the possibility of a special surprise.
• Bye week placement
 The bye falls on October 10, right after that brutal playoff-team gauntlet — a fortunate breather before the back half of the conference schedule. The entire Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference will observe a bye during that week with practice and meeting times varying throughout the week.
• Beyond 2026
Colorado Mesa and West Texas A&M announced a four-year football schedule agreement beginning in 2028, with games scheduled for August 24, 2028 (at Canyon, TX), August 23, 2029 (at Grand Junction), August 29, 2030 (at Canyon), and August 28, 2031 (at Grand Junction). Coach Kochevar has a personal connection there — he served as West Texas A&M's defensive coordinator from 2016–18. 

WHAT'S NEW THIS YEAR 
• Coach to player communication
Beginning this year in Division II, coach to player communication is legal and will be available in all games the Mavericks play in. The technology uses encrypted radio and in-helmet speakers that allow coaches to communicate to players on the field. The individuals will be allowed open communication until there are 15 seconds left on the play clock each play.

Colorado Mesa utilizes CoachComm communications systems with the coach's communications and has their solution for the Coach to Player system.

• Tailgate Time
Colorado Mesa will introduce premium tailgating this year with different level options. The premium package includes a 10x20 space that includes tent, tables, chairs, bottled water, two coolers and 40lbs. of ice while the select package comes with a 10x10 space that includes tent, tables, chairs, bottled water, cooler and 20lbs. of ice. The final option is the traditional tailgate where you get one reserved parking spot used to tailgate at your own will.

All of this is brought to us by our friends at FCI Constructors.