But that’s certainly not the focus come Saturday and very much an afterthought with every coach on staff noting the unique challenges the Rams present beginning with posing a prolific offense led by dual threat quarterback Hauss Hejny. The native Texan, who was part of both TCU’s and Oklahoma State’s programs before finding a home in Fort Collins, has thrown for nine touchdown passes already this season while adding 539 yards through the air and 124 more on the ground, which includes a rushing touchdown.

His play has certainly caught the attention of Poppinga.

“Their quarterback is a problem. He’s a very good player,” Poppinga noted. “(He has a) quick release, (he’s a) gunslinger, (and) throws the ball really well. Has a very accurate arm. His passer rating is really high right now because he’s throwing a lot of touchdowns, little interceptions, and he runs the ball really well. He reminds me a lot of the guy we played last week.”

The quarterback BYU faced last week was, of course, Arizona’s Noah Fifita, who made some big gains on both the ground and through the air last week before Poppinga’s defense buckled down in the second half to limit his production considerably. Fifita holds some familiarities with Hejny, sure, with some notable differences.

“I would say (Hejny is) a better runner as far as speed goes, but Fifita probably has a little bit more savvy because he’s played a little bit more,” Poppinga observed. “But this guy, when I turned on the film … he got my attention quickly along with the speed that they have around him … I think those guys (have) three really good receivers. They got guys.”

At running back the Rams will present Mel Brown, who has rushed for 228 yards and two touchdowns so far this season on just 17 carries. At receiver the Rams will be led by a trio of Jackson Harper, Terrance Smith and RJ Vick, all of whom have very similar numbers and will have to be accounted for on most every down.

As mentioned, the Cougars were able to turn things around considerably with their overall defensive play last week, and will look to continue with those gains in going against the Ram’s prolific offense. According to the guy who would know better than anyone, BYU didn’t change much defensively, at all, in exercising greater efficiency in the second half versus the Wildcats last week, but just locked down its assignments better.

If you watch the film, there really wasn’t any halftime adjustments,” Poppinga said. “There was a couple things that we did a little bit different, but it was really just us executing and making plays at the end of the day. There’s not a call I would have taken back from that first series when they went down there in droves. It was really a little lack of execution and really a lack of playmaking.”

On the offensive side of the football BYU will look to continue with its momentum with perhaps a continued focus on allowing running back LJ Martin to do his thing, much like he did last week versus Arizona in the second half when he carried the football 16 times as opposed to just four during the first 30 minutes of play.

“I think he averaged 18 (touches) last year and we’d like to be around 20 a game,” Roderick explained. “I didn’t mean for him to only have four at halftime. We just didn’t have the ball, you know? We had 24 plays in the first half–pretty low. And (that was) partly our own fault. We had two three-and-outs in that half, and … Arizona did a nice job staying on the field. But at halftime, it was a big priority to get LJ the ball, get him going, and we’ll keep doing that all year.”

So a heavy dose of Martin along with continuing the high level of defensive execution Poppinga’s group showed during the second of last week’s game will be the focus, along with, of course, continued stellar play from quarterback Bear Bachmeier and his passing arsenal should lead to another positive result for the Cougars. But how effectively they can do as much is certainly in the balance come Saturday against a CSU team that certainly has the BYU coach’s attention in what should prove a stern test for the first road game of the season.