There was a time, several years ago, when Colorado State dominated the Mountain West Conference in football.

The Rams won a piece of the championship in 1999 and earned outright titles in 2000 and 2002.

Then CSU began to slide during in the final few years under former coach Sonny Lubick, who had carried the program to prominence during the 1990s. But in 2006 and 2007, the Rams won only a total of three conference games.

Under first-year coach Steve Fairchild, a former CSU quarterback and offensive coordinator, the Rams are showing signs of a resurgence. His defensive coordinator, Larry Kerr, coached with Fairchild under Lubick in the 1990s.

Last Saturday, Colorado State (3-2, 1-0) defeated UNLV, 41-27, at home, marking the program's fifth straight home-field victory.

"The win against UNLV was a good win for our program, our coaches and players," Fairchild said. "I was pleased because we not only won a close game, but we got down 14-3 and found a way to fight back into the game and win it.

"We certainly have our work cut out for us this week against a very good TCU team. TCU is one of the elite teams in the league, obviously. That's where we were in the 1990s and that's what we've got to strive to get back to."

TCU coach Gary Patterson is impressed with the way CSU is playing. "It's a very good football team, especially playing at home," he said. "They've found ways to win close ball games, and every week they keep getting better and better. I can see they're back to the formula of what they were like when (Fairchild and Kerr) were working with coach Lubick. They run the ball strong and like to beat you with the big play, and defensively they play very hard and they're very sound.

"It's a team that's going to give teams a lot of problems in the conference schedule."

Considering what he inherited, does Fairchild consider the program ahead of schedule?

"I don't know. I'm not taking time to stop and benchmark us," he said. "I see pretty clearly where we're coming from and where we need to be, which is the type of team we were in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

"I also see pretty clearly the process. We just need to work and keep going because this program right now is nowhere near the BYU, Utah, TCU level. We used to be, but we're not. The only thing that's going to get us there is taking one day at a time and working hard."

ACTION JACKSON: Starting in place of an injured Andy Dalton, TCU backup quarterback Marcus Jackson rolled up 246 yards of total offense and three touchdowns in the Horned Frogs' 41-7 stomping of San Diego State. Jackson ran for a career-high 131 yards and a pair of TDs. He also completed 10-of-19 passes for another 115 yards and a touchdown. The TCU offense had the ball for 43:29 against the Aztecs.

SHUTTING DOWN 100-YARD RUSHERS: Three MWC defenses have not given up a 100-yard rusher this season — TCU, New Mexico and BYU. In fact, all three teams boast a streak of at least five games without allowing a 100-yard rusher — TCU (11), New Mexico (9) and BYU (5). TCU leads the nation in run defense (22.3 yards per game) while Utah (65.5 ypg) is sixth.

UNLV IN THE RED: A year ago, UNLV was last in the MWC in red-zone scoring (73 percent). Through six games this season, the Rebels are tied for first in the country — 18-for-18 (100 percent) — inside 20-yard line with 15 touchdowns and three field goals.

E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com