Jay Norvell’s firing has created a chain reaction at Colorado State. After losing five of their seven games to start the season, the Rams’ front office said, “This ain’t gonna cut it,” and ended the Jay Norvell era. His firing came after a 31-19 Homecoming loss to Hawaii. With that decision came consequences. The Rams’ QB1, Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, who had started 27 straight games for the team, decided to leave earlier this week. The interim head coach opened up about it.

On October 22nd, Colorado State’s interim head Tyson Summers hopped onto a podium and broke the news that Brayden Folwer-Nicolosi is no longer with the Rams: “Brayden and I’ve had a lot of conversations over the last couple of days. Brayden has been great, very adult conversations, and trying to make sure that you know he was he was getting what he wanted. he wanted to about things, so impressed with him the last couple of days. Brayden has chosen to step away from the footI’m very proud of him. I will vouch for him to anyone, anywhere, any time. The guy has won a lot of football games here, been here for a long time and he’s had a challenging situation this year. I look forward to nothing but the best for him.”

Unfortunately, Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi’s era at Colorado State has come to an end after four seasons with the Rams. Brayden was a G, and some folks know him for his short-term feud with former Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders and their legendary matchup in 2023. And according to On3’s Pete Nakos, he plans to enter the transfer portal. Fowler-Nicolosi leaves CSU with 6,938 passing yards, 38 touchdowns, and 29 interceptions.

With at least one more year of eligibility, he’ll have another chance to continue his career elsewhere and likely draw interest from several teams looking for an experienced quarterback.

Fowler-Nicolosi’s decision comes after he previously turned down a big payday. Earlier this year, Jay Norvell said the quarterback was offered around $600k to transfer but chose to stay at Colorado State. Shocking thing about it, the man did it for the love of the game: “I didn’t come here to make money. I came here to win games and play ball for the Rams. So I think if we play ball here, we do our job, we do what we’re supposed to we win championships. Go to the playoff shock the world. I think the money will come, eventually…. I’m a 20-year-old kid with higher goals in life than to make money in college, and so as much of a blessing as that would be, and set myself up for a long time, I think if I do my job here and we get it done and perform like how we know we’re supposed to, I think there’s several people on this team that will be taken care of for life after college.” Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi said he turned down NIL money because his primary goal was never about getting paid in the first place—it was about winning the natty along with the Rams. Gotta respect that mentality

With Brayden gone, players have a 15-day window to enter the transfer portal after the coaching change. For now, CSU will try to finish the season strong as they prepare to face Wyoming this weekend.

Wyoming Cowboys vs Colorado State Rams

Colorado State will take on Wyoming this Saturday, October 25, at 7:30 PM at War Memorial Stadium. The game will be airing on CBSS. The Rams are 2-5 and still searching for their first win on the road, meanwhile, the Cowboys sit at 3-4 and want to bounce back at home, where they’re 2-2. Also, the odds are in Wyoming’s favor with a -6.0 spread and a -228 moneyline. Colorado State has had a rough stretch lately — they started big with Fresno State 49-21 earlier in the season but have since fallen to Hawaii, San Diego State, and Washington State.

Colorado State will have sophomore Jackson Brousseau as their new starter. He’s thrown for 741 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions in five games, though the Rams have only one win in that stretch. With Norvell gone, interim coach Brian Summers now has the tough job of keeping the team together.