Colorado State and Texas State both left their old leagues behind for the Pac-12 this year, and now they get to find out what that actually means against each other under the Thursday night lights.
Bush’s Picks
CSUTXST
CSUTXST
OverUnder
Best BetTexas State
Texas State returning its starting quarterback and stacking three straight bowl wins is the kind of program continuity Colorado State simply doesn't have right now. The Rams are running out mostly new pieces at every skill spot under a first-year staff, and that kind of turnover usually shows up in the results before it shows up in the record. Take the Bobcats to win outright.
Colorado State
+18 Mora-connected transfers add experience fast
+Portal overhaul aimed at speeding rebuild
−Lost leading 2025 passer Brousseau to Cal
−Seven losing seasons in last eight years
Texas State
+Returns starting QB Brad Jackson for first time under Kinne
+Three straight bowl wins, capped by 41-10 rout of Rice
−First season ever in the Pac-12
−CFN projects just a 5-7 record
Neither of these programs has played a single Pac-12 down yet, which makes this one of the stranger measuring-stick games on the early conference slate. Texas State hosts at UFCU Stadium on Thursday, October 15, with both sides still figuring out how their roster overhauls translate against real competition.
Texas State brings the more stable setup. Brad Jackson is back for his redshirt sophomore year as the guy running G.J. Kinne's offense, the first time Kinne has had returning starting QB continuity in San Marcos. Colorado State is starting from scratch under first-year coach Jim Mora, who lost his top passer from 2025 to the portal and rebuilt the quarterback room with newcomers who don't have a snap of CSU football between them.
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CSU Colorado State
TXST Texas State
The gap in program direction is the whole story here. Kinne has the Bobcats coming off three straight bowl wins and a 41-10 beatdown of Rice in the Armed Forces Bowl. Mora inherited a Rams team with seven losing seasons in the last eight years and is still bolting the pieces together, with 18 players who followed him over from UConn.
Colorado State Rams
Oct 3?vs Oregon State—
Sep 25?@ UTSA—
Sep 19?vs BYU—
Sep 12?vs Southern Utah—
Sep 5?vs Wyoming—
Texas State Bobcats
Oct 3?@ San Diego State—
Sep 26?vs Incarnate Word—
Sep 19?vs North Texas—
Sep 12?vs UTSA—
Sep 5?@ Texas—
Recent form.
That said, Colorado State didn't just run it back. Mora's staff went hard in the portal to speed up the rebuild, and there's a version of this where the new pieces gel faster than expected. It's also early enough in the season that neither roster has been fully tested by a Pac-12 schedule that includes trips to Boise, Corvallis and San Diego later on — this game is closer to a soft landing for both.
Colorado State Rams
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Texas State Bobcats
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
For Texas State, the appeal is obvious: keep feeding Jackson and the receiving corps and let the offense do what it did in the Sun Belt. For Colorado State, the appeal is patience — this is Year 1 of a multi-year build, and results in October matter less than whether the new roster looks coherent by November.
