It was the second win for the Mountain West Conference over a Big 12 team in 24 hours, coming on the heels of BYU's stunning 14-13 victory over third-ranked Oklahoma.

Stucker threw a 13-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter to new running back John Mosure, who also had a 1-yard TD run as the Rams (1-0) never trailed in quieting the crowd at Folsom Field.

While Stucker was selected the Rams' quarterback last week over Jon Eastman, Colorado coach Dan Hawkins - who's entering a do-or-die fourth season at Boulder - kept his starter a secret until just before kickoff when his son, junior Cody Hawkins, got the nod over Tyler Hansen.

That decision was met with derision by the Buffaloes' student section as Hawkins completed 7 of 14 passes for 46 yards in the first half, which ended with Colorado (0-1) trailing 20-3.

The loudest the yellow-clad students cheered came at halftime when a streaker with ``CU'' painted on his back jumped out of the stands and cut through the CSU band as it played ``When the Saints Go Marching in'' at midfield.

The Buffaloes looked like that had made the proper adjustments at halftime when they took the opening kickoff and needed just four plays to pull to 20-10 on Brian Lockridge's 9-yard touchdown run.

Their momentum stalled, however, when wide receiver Scotty McKnight fumbled inside the Rams 20 on a hard hit by free safety Elijah-Blu Smith and linebacker Alex Williams recovered.

Then, the Buffs were stuffed on fourth-and-1 from their own 44. Demetrius Sumler was stopped well short of the first-down marker, snapping a string of a dozen consecutive fourth-down conversions by the Buffaloes going back to last season.

After the Rams decided not to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 1, Ben DeLine kicked an 18-yard field goal that gave Colorado State a 23-10 lead with just under nine minutes left.

Hawkins threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to McKnight with 1:57 remaining to pull the Buffs to 23-17. Rams safety Klint Kubiak fumbled the onside kick but teammate Dion Morton smothered it.

Leonard Mason (23 rushes for 107 yards) then reeled off a 44-yard run to the Buffs 6 and the Rams took a knee three times to end the game.

Stucker finished 10 of 17 for 208 yards, a TD and two interceptions. Hawkins was 24 of 40 for 222 yards, a TD and an interception.

The Rams jumped out to a 17-0 lead that could have been much bigger were it not for a big penalty and a big drop.

First, senior wide receiver Ryan Gardner spiked the ball after hauling in a 43-yard pass inside the Colorado 5-yard line, and the Rams settled for DeLine's 29-yard field goal.

Rams receiver Rashaun Greer dropped a perfectly thrown pass that might have gone for a 75-yard touchdown.

Three plays later, Benjamin Burney's interception at midfield set up Colorado's only first-half points on a career-long 54-yard field goal by Aric Goodman. The Rams responded with DeLine's 45-yarder that made it 20-3 at halftime.

Buffs running back Darrell Scott provided some fodder for the CSU bulletin boards last month when he declared the Buffs didn't just want to beat the Rams for a third straight season but, ``We want to crush them really.''

Not the most inflammatory of comments, but enough for the Rams to sit up and take notice. After all, the Buffs' stated goal of double-digit wins for the first time since 2001 counted on a win in this opener.

The series moves back to Denver next year for the next decade in a deal announced last week.