Strike 1: Colorado State is currently looking for a new head football coach. The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and former almost-CSU offensive coordinator Timmy Chang dealt the deciding blow to the Jay Norvell Era in front of a sellout Homecoming crowd on Saturday evening. The 31-19 loss dropped CSU to 2-5, and by lunchtime on Sunday, Norvell was unemployed.

Now CSU will be one of what already appears to be more than a dozen FBS job openings this December (there are already 12 known, with more firings to come.) That means there will be lots of competition for new head coaches. Whoever gets the gig in FoCo will have one immediate and very important task – to re-recruit the Rams stable of top-shelf, high-caliber running backs. At the moment, CSU is four deep at the position.

Immediately after that, he needs to find a new quarterback in the transfer portal.

There’s not one guy among the Rams’ very talented group of runners – Jalen Dupree, Justin Marshall, Lloyd Avant and Javion Kinnard – who would not be an immediate asset to a “Power Four” football program. Unfortunately, with all four sharing carries, and only one football to go around, there’s not enough to go around. It’s very difficult for any offense to rotate four players at one position and keep everyone happy. Three of them have already started games during the first seven weeks, so each already thinks of himself as a starter somewhere.

If things stay like they are, it will be pretty much impossible to keep them all happy. So it’s tough to believe that one or more members of this fab foursome won’t be testing out the transfer portal come January.

If the new coach can keep at least two of them, it will be a re-recruiting win.

Dupree is a redshirt freshman with three years of college eligibility left. That would likely make him the most attractive candidate for a bigger program looking for a boost in the backfield. So far this season he leads the team with 429 yards on just 83 carries, for a glistening 5.2 yards per carry. And that’s running behind a suspect offensive line.

Avant – who also excels as returning kickoffs – is a sophomore who can play two more seasons. He’s currently got 57 carries for 328 yards, rushing at a clip of 5.8 yards per.

Marshall is the “old” guy. He’s a redshirt sophomore, with two years of eligibility remaining. He’s had minor injury issues, but dispelled those concerns two Saturdays ago with a first quarter 73-yard touchdown burst that set the stage for CSU’s only impressive offensive showing of the season thus far. All he’s done in very limited action is carry the ball at a 7.1 yards per rush clip, gaining 192 yards on just 27 carries.

Kinnard, a true freshman who burst on the scene two weekends ago with a touchdown catch and a key third down conversion catch and run, is the youngest and smallest of the group, but also the fastest. He put his wheels on display against Hawaii with an electric 91-yard punt return for a score. Interim head coach Tyson Summers and offensive coordinator Matt Mumme will be needing to find ways to get him the ball too during these last five games. In very limited carries (9), he’s run for 46 yards (5.1 per rush) and also caught six passes for 93 yards and that touchdown.

The quartet has rushed for almost 1,000 yards (995) between them in just seven games, all while the Rams struggle to try and figure out how to muster any sort of passing attack.

What might be most appealing to any teams looking to poach one of the Rams standout runners is that all of them still have a lot of tread left on their tires, so to speak. None have more than Dupree’s 83 touches.

While the Rams are longing for at least one quarterback who can consistently deliver the football to some talented receivers, they at least have their pick of four guys that can deliver when they’re handed the ball. The next CSU head coach, whoever he is and whatever kind of offense he wants to run, needs to start his rebuilding process by keeping at least a couple of the quality building blocks he’ll inherit right where they are.