Colorado State wide receiver Rashard Higgins was named the Mountain West Conference Preseason Offensive Player of the Year by select media members Tuesday, from the Mountain West Football Media Days at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
It is believed to be the first time a CSU player has been named the Mountain West’s top preseason player, according to the university.
Higgins, who led the FBS in yards (1,750) and touchdowns (17) a season ago, is joined on the 2015 Preseason All-Mountain West Team by Rams tight end Steven Walker.
Higgins will enter the 2015 season as the only returning Biletnikoff Award finalist, given to the nation’s best receiver, and one of just three players nationally to be named to the 2015 preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award and Biletnikoff Award.
Higgins, a consensus All-American in 2014, holds the Colorado State career record for touchdowns in just two seasons of work.
For the second consecutive season, CSU was picked to finish third in the Mountain Division of the Mountain West, behind preseason favorite Boise State (177 points) and Utah State (150).
The order of finish was again voted on by select media members throughout the league, with the Rams earning 108 points.
CSU is coming off its first 10-win season since 2002 and returns 15 starters – seven on offense and eight on defense – and 55 letterwinners.
Bryce Rudnick, a Mile High Sports intern and CU-Boulder student, contributed to this report