---

---

UNLV Rebels (3-6, 1-4) host the Colorado State Rams (3-6, 0-5) at Sam Boyd Stadium this weekend in a battle of struggling teams.  The loser will be officially dropped out of bowl contention, while the winner can keep on hoping to finish out and get a chance at the New Mexico Bowl.  Colorado is the loser of six straight and has yet to win a Mountain West Conference game this year.  UNLV is fresh off a shutout loss 41-0 to #6 TCU last week.

UNLV quarterback Omar Clayton will look to get the offense back on track after being shut out last week.  The week before the Rebels put up 34 points on New Mexico and average 24 points a game so chalk last week up to TCU just being dominate.  UNLV's other QB Mike Clausen might get some snaps as he was the leading rusher last week and has seen some playing time the last few games.  UNLV should attack the injury stricken CSU defense with Ryan Wolfe who has had a very solid season at wide receiver.   On the defensive side the Rebels will have to find a way to stop Leonard Mason who is the Rams main threat these days.

The Rams need to get trust back in Grant Stucker as they attempted very few down field passes against Air Force last week and became a one dimensional team.  If that trust is not there might as well see what Jon Eastman can do, but Steve Fairchild is saying that Stucker will be his starter.  The good news for the Rams is they have found a running back in Leonard Mason who finishes runs and moves the chains.  On defense the Rams need to get to the quarterback and force some turnovers to keep them in the game.

In more bad news for the Rams tight end Eric Peitz is out for the year.  This is the third week in a row the Rams have lost a player for the year.  DeAngelo Wilkinson is not likely to play either for the Rams, leaving the Rebels a big chance to exploit the Rams secondary as it has been the last 6 weeks.  The Rebels have a shot at beating the Rams who have won 12 of the last 13 meetings between the teams.