FORT COLLINS – A supposed Black Friday at Canvas Stadium turned into a stunning comeback.

After a thrilling 42-37 victory over Utah State at Canvas Stadium, Colorado State enters the final day of the college football regular season with continued hopes of a spot in the Mountain West championship game.

CSU scored 29 straight points in the fourth quarter to erase a 17-point deficit in a game in which the Rams appeared dead in the water after an Aggies defensive touchdown in the final moments of the third quarter.

But a few key insights, coupled with key passes from Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi and a big day from wideout Dane Olson, spurred the Rams to victory instead. Regardless of what happens to their Mountain West title hopes, the Rams now head into the postseason with the wind at their back after claiming their first eight-win season since Jim McElwain’s 10-3 victory in 2014.

CSU now needs Nevada to upset UNLV on Saturday in Las Vegas so the Rams can advance to the Mountain West title game against Boise State. The Wolfpack are 17.5 point underdogs over the Rebels, who are 5-1 in conference play and hold the tiebreaker over the Rams.

The Rams (8-4, 6-1) looked terrible early in front of a sleepy, sparse crowd. And while the Rams finally woke up after digging themselves into a 13-0 hole, Utah State quarterback Bryson Barnes’ legs were an X-factor as he ran for 184 yards and a TD on 24 carries.

The Rams’ first-quarter confusion was a repeat of last week’s loss to Fresno State, when the Bulldogs held a 21-point halftime lead and lost to CSU 28-22, costing the Rams control of their title hopes.

Utah State missed a 44-yard field goal on its first possession, but then pulled off two consecutive TD drives that included long runs by Barnes. The QB’s 1-yard TD plunge gave the visitors a 6-0 lead with the two-point conversion failing, and then Barnes added a 2-yard TD pass to Otto Tia late in the first quarter to 13:0.

With Jordan Noyes’ 33-yard field goal at 10:28 in the second quarter, CSU finally got into the game, and another shot by Noyes from 40 yards made it 16-6.

The Rams defense finally woke up on the ensuing drive, forcing a Utah State three-and-out on a possession that resulted in minus-9 yards and lasted just 39 seconds after halftime. That forced the Aggies’ first punt of the game, giving the Rams the ball back near midfield with 1:05 left. And with 19 seconds left in the first half, Olson finally gave the Rams’ offense the boost it needed.

On third-and-10 from the Utah State 28, Olson caught Fowler-Nicolosi’s dump-off pass up the middle and then ran down the field to the left sideline, where he got a crucial block from fellow wideout Armani Winfield, to run to the ball landing. Olson finished the game with five catches for 140 yards.

That made it 16:13 in the locker room.

Late in the third period, a 15-play, 79-yard scoring drive, capped by Barnes’ 14-yard TD pass to Tia, extended Utah State’s lead to 23-13 with 1:07 to play before the end of the quarter. Then came the momentum that the Rams couldn’t seem to come back from – until they did.

On CSU’s opening play of the next drive, Fowler-Nicolosi targeted Jamari Person on a short-out route. As soon as the pass hit Person’s hands, it was blasted into the air by cornerback JD Drew. The ball went into the air and Jaiden Francois caught it and ran back 40 yards for a pick-six.

That gave Utah State a 30-13 lead heading into the fourth game. But the Rams had magic up their sleeves.