FORT COLLINS, COLO. >> They both have third-year head coaches who were national champions as offensive coordinators at the biggest of the big-time programs.

Both schools play at off-campus stadiums.

But, where it matters most, the Colorado State and Hawaii football teams differ vastly. The Rainbow Warriors, who visit the Rams at Hughes Stadium on Saturday, continue to tailspin at 2-7 after going 1-11 last year and are 6-27 in Norm Chow’s third year as head coach.

Colorado State, under former Alabama offensive coordinator Jim McElwain, is knocking on the door of the top 25 with seven straight wins; its only loss is to Boise State the second week of the season.

This small city or big town of not quite 150,000 about 60 miles north of Denver might be home to the best college football team nobody knows.

But word is getting around, even in this sports-saturated region.

"There’s definitely some buzz going, but it took some time because this is a pro sports area and everything falls in line behind the (Denver) Broncos," said KMGH 7News sportscaster Jahmai Webster, who until recently was at KITV in Honolulu.

Denver is big league in all five major professional team sports, so there’s plenty of competition for the fans’ attention.

"Oh, yeah, especially because the team has not been the best for a long time," said Kelton Steinmeyer, a junior psychology major at Colorado State from Denver suburb Franktown. "More students would go if the games were on campus."

Steinmeyer played football, rugby and hockey in high school. He considers himself an avid sports fan, but hasn’t been to a Rams game this season because of work commitments and his girlfriend lives far from Fort Collins.

Colorado State isn’t doing a spectacular worst-to-first thing as UH did in 1999 with the biggest single-season turnaround in college football to date. No, this has been steady and stealthy.

McElwain is doing it one step at a time. In his 2012 debut the Rams went 4-8 which was just one game better than the previous year. Last fall he led them to their first winning record (8-6) since 2008, including a victory over Washington State in the New Mexico Bowl.

Since trouncing rival Wyoming 52-22 last season, Colorado State is 14-3.

"We’re getting a little bit better, bit-by-bit," McElwain said.

Attendance has steadily increased, and the Rams served notice from the first game of this season by beating their supposed big brothers from Boulder, 31-17.

Colorado State owns first place in the Mountain West’s Mountain Division, and has the best conference and overall records in the MWC.

Including Hawaii, its remaining three opponents are 4-8 in the league and 11-14 overall. There’s not much other than 6-2 Air Force standing in the way of the Rams winning out the regular season and going to the MWC title game.

McElwain insists it’s the result of nothing fancy, just balance and depth and grinding.

"One of the things we believe in is, as the game wears on having enough tools in your tool box to take advantage of what someone’s giving you," he said. "You look at our participation roster, how many guys get to contribute, that makes it fun. It obviously takes a lot of time and it’s not easy by any stretch of the imagination (to develop depth). We’ve been very fortunate."

They’re also good. They have a spectacular receiver, sophomore Rashard Higgins, and a consistent 100-yard rusher, Dee Hart.

Much has been made of the 52-year-old McElwain’s connection to Alabama and the 2011 national championship. But ask him about that and he’d rather talk about his early coaching years at Eastern Washington and Montana State.

"What you learn from 15 years at the I-AA level is it didn’t matter what season it was, you helped each other out. I’ve sold popcorn at women’s basketball games because they’re short-handed, that’s the kind of detail I’m talking about, and enjoying the relations," he said. "It doesn’t take much to be excited and affect the people around you. We don’t have a lot of separate agendas and we don’t have people who are just punching a time clock."

And he keeps it loose.

"He’s quirky, always coming up with a nursery rhyme or something. This past one was about daylight savings and using the extra hour to get a haircut," Webster said of McElwain, who recently signed a contract extension through 2019. "I think he has an affinity for the place, but you gotta get it while it’s hot and he’s got those ‘Bama connections."

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.