Fort Collins – Clint Oldenburg is a rarity for the Colorado State football team this season. He is a fifth-year senior starter on a junior-dominated team, an offensive tackle with a 3-yard run to his credit, and he even serves as the team spokesman.
Oldenburg saved his best for last Tuesday when he explained why the Rams (4-7, 1-6 Mountain West Conference) will rebound next season.
“The first thing is the amount and the quality of next year’s senior class,” Oldenburg said. “I see a refocused team starting out this week (the Rams close Saturday night at San Diego State). Everyone wants to make a statement about getting it back the way it was when Coach (Sonny) Lubick first got here.
“We have to go out and prove ourselves again. We’re not at the top (of the MWC) anymore. I see us as a program going out with that chip on our shoulders and proving ourselves to the rest of the world.”
As he had done many times this year, Oldenburg showed a perception of the CSU program beyond the window of his five- year career in Fort Collins.
With senior night in the Rams’ Hughes Stadium finale turning into a dud last week against Texas Christian, which routed CSU 45-14, Oldenburg is looking for a final redemption Saturday at San Diego State (2-9, 2-5).
Oldenburg remarked how no one among the Rams wants to end the season with a loss and there’s no comparison between playing in San Diego in late December, as the Rams did against Navy in a bowl game last year, and merely finishing the season in an albeit warmer climate.
Only four MWC schools play Saturday – Air Force (4-7, 3-4) finishes at TCU (9-2, 5-2) – and the games take up a vital weekend on the recruiting calendar. It is especially difficult for the two teams traveling, CSU and Air Force.
The December and Thanks- giving weekend games are the result of a 12-game season with two bye weeks. Lubick said he would rather play straight through, like the Big Ten.
While the San Diego State and TCU coaches said they will have recruits in for Saturday’s games, Lubick said CSU is left with just one recruiting weekend in December instead of the usual two. By the third weekend in the month, CSU students are in final exams or done for the semester and the Rams’ coaches prefer to bring in prospects when school is in session.
CSU has seven oral commitments from prospects, collected since mid-summer. Given the Rams’ small senior class, Lubick said he expects to offer 17 or 18 scholarships instead of the usual average of more than 20, but he isn’t rushing to fill up the class.
