Fort Collins, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - Enjoying their longest winning streak since 1997, the 22nd-ranked Colorado State Rams settle in at Hughes Stadium on Saturday to host the slumping New Mexico Lobos in Mountain West Conference play. The Rams are off to their best start since 1994 when the team opened with a mark of 10-1 under head coach Sonny Lubick. The lone setback on the schedule was a 37-24 loss to Boise State on the road in the second game of the season, a defeat that could keep the Rams out of the conference championship game if the Broncos are able to win out at this point. Most recently the Rams were in action on Nov. 8 versus Hawaii at home, capturing a resounding 49-20 victory, advancing to 5-1 in conference play for the first time since 2002 when the program opened 6-1 on the way to the league title. As for the Lobos, they are at the other end of the spectrum in the Mountain Division of the MWC, winning just one of six league bouts to this point. The team has a total of three victories overall, the other coming against Texas- San Antonio in early October. Last weekend, New Mexico took a run at Utah State in Logan but came up short in a 28-21 final, the squads second loss in a row and the fourth in five outings. The series is controlled by the Rams currently, 36-25, thanks in part to an overwhelming 66-42 victory by Colorado State in Albuquerque last season. The Rams have won four straight in the series, including three in a row in Fort Collins. Freshman quarterback Lamar Jordan did everything in his power to get the Lobos into the win column against Utah State last week, but it simply was not meant to be. He converted 8-of-18 passes for 154 yards and a score, but was also intercepted once in the close call. The signal caller ran for 80 yards, second only to Romell Jordan who tallied 96 yards and a score on nine carries. Defensively, it was Tevin Newman with a team-best seven tackles, Nik DAvanzo with a pair of sacks and SaQwan Edwards an interception that he returned 33 yards and six plays later, the UNM offense turned it into its first touchdown of the contest. We gave up too many big plays, said Lobo Coach Bob Davie. To come up here and win this game, we needed to play great defense and we couldnt do that. We are good enough to keep it close, but we arent good enough to win a game like this yet. The defense has been a concern of the Lobos all season long, with the team giving up 498.9 ypg, ranking 116th in the country in that department. The run defense has been the biggest issue as the group allows 276.7 ypg which is 122nd in the nation currently. The bad news for the Lobos now is that linebacker Dakota Cox, one of the nations top tacklers with 116 stops, is listed as questionable for this week due to an ankle injury. Behind Cox, the second-best tackler is David Guthrie who has 64 stops, so clearly there is a huge drop off in that department. On the offensive side, the Lobos are fourth in the nation in rushing with 318.3 ypg, but are generating just 87.3 ypg through the air (124th). Thrust into action due to the foot injury of Cole Gautsche, Jordan has done rather well given the circumstances, throwing for 699 yards and five touchdowns on just 50 completions. On the ground, it is Jhurell Pressley who leads the way with 873 yards and 11 TDs, but he is just one of several options that the Lobos are leaning on these days. As for the Rams, who have been out of action for a few weeks, they are finally taking the field as a nationally-ranked squad for the first time since 2003. As Ive said all along, its pretty cool that people are taking note of the good things happening at Colorado State University, head coach Jim McElwain says of the national recognition. This is just another step in the climb, and I just cant tell you how proud I am of this team. We have a long way to go, but Im happy for our fans, for this university and the people in the state of Colorado. Coach McElwain has the luxury of watching two players who may well be the best at their position in the Mountain West right now in quarterback Garrett Grayson and receiver Rashard Higgins. Grayson is the first quarterback in program history to have three games with at least four touchdown passes in his career, all of them coming this season against UC Davis, Wyoming and Hawaii. Put it all together and the gunslinger is streaking along with 3,024 yards and 26 TDs on 65.6 percent accuracy. As for Higgins, he too is in a class by himself and was recently named a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, which recognizes the top receiver in the nation. It was very exciting to hear this news this morning, said Higgins of the announcement. It shows how much hard work really does pay off, and makes me think how blessed I am to have great teammates and coaches. I set high goals for myself and our team, and those goals can only be achieved with everyone doing their part. To be in this position is a dream come true. Higgins entered the week leading all receivers in the FBS with 142.2 ypg and 13 touchdowns, while placing second in receiving yards with 1,280. He has a school-record seven games with at least 100 yards receiving and his 14 catches of 30 yards or more also paces the nations receivers. In addition to Grayson and Higgins, the CSU offense is also supported by the exploits of Alabama transfer, running back Dee Hart who has 909 yards and 11 TDs on the ground. The Colorado State defense takes its cues from Aaron Davis who leads the group with 95 tackles, 18 more than his closest teammate, while Cory James steps in with 5.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss to pace the program in both of those department. 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Even if New Englands offence stumbles a bit out of the gate, their defence can help them stay in games, especially in the AFC East with the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets in the first two weeks.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Edmonton Oilers will seek to cool off the red-hot New York Rangers on Thursday night when they visit Madison Square Garden. The Oilers, who currently are in last place in the West, have won four of their last five games and recently posted a 3-2 regulation decision in Buffalo. After losing 4-0 in Boston on Saturday to begin its four-game road trip, a swing that will carry the club into the Olympic break, the Oilers bounced back with Mondays win over the Sabres. Matt Hendricks scored the winner in the third period to help Edmonton edge Buffalo at First Niagara Center. Jeff Petry and Justin Schultz also scored for the Oilers, while Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 42 shots in the win. "He played great because we put him behind the eight ball a lot with all the penalties we took and shots we gave up," said Schultz of Bryzgalov. "He really came up big several times tonight." The Oilers went 0-for-5 on the power play, but killed off five of Buffalos six chances with the extra man. Ben Scrivens is expected to be back between the pipes for the Oilers on Thursday. Scrivens is 2-3-0 with a 2.21 goals against average and .944 save percentage in five games with Edmonton since coming over last month in a trade with Los Angeles. The 27-year-old netminder set an NHL record for saves in a regular-season shutout with 59 stops in a 3-0 win over San Jose on Jan. 29, but he yielded four goals on 41 shots in Saturdays setback in Boston. Edmonton improved to 9-19-4 as the visiting team this season. The Oilers will close their pre-Olympic schedule with Fridays game in New Jersey. The Oilers have won three of the last five meetings in the series with the Rangers overall, but New York has taken two of three and six of the last eight encounters in the Big Apple. The last time Edmonton visited MSG was on Nov. 14, 2010, when the Rangers picked up a victory with an 8-2 rout. The Rangers have earned four straight victories and the current winning streak gives New York wins in seven of nine and 10 of its past 13 games.dddddddddddd The Blueshirts have won three of the four tilts during their recent hot streak by three or more goals and are outscoring the opposition by an 18-6 margin during that span. New York hasnt won five in a row since the 2011-12 season when it went 5-0 from Dec. 30-Jan. 10 of that campaign. Despite their recent hot play, the second-place Rangers still find themselves 17 points behind Pittsburgh for the Metropolitan Division lead. New York is three points in front of Columbus for the divisions second spot and also three clear of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. Ryan Callahan played a standout role for the Rangers in their most recent win, as the team captain shook off recent trade rumors to score a pair of first- period goals that set the tone in Tuesdays 5-1 home rout of the Colorado Avalanche. Callahan, mentioned as a possible candidate to be moved prior to the upcoming trade deadline due to his unrestricted free agent status at seasons end, also added an assist on Brad Richards late tally to help the Rangers record their longest win streak of the season. Richards and Derick Brassard each posted a goal and assist and Anton Stralman also lit the lamp for New York. Henrik Lundqvist did his part as well between the pipes, turning back 27-of-28 shots in the triumph. "We had a real strong start," Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault remarked. "Obviously we were meeting a team that was tired and we were fresh. It was their third game in four nights, but we came out the way I thought we needed to come out and that was a determining factor tonight." The Rangers, who are 14-13-3 at MSG this season, will try to complete a three- game homestand tonight with a perfect record. New York will play its final tilt before the Olympic break Friday night in Pittsburgh. ' ' '