By ISU Sports Information
NORMAL – For the third time in four seasons, the Illinois State football program will step up a level to play a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent, when the Redbirds travel to Fort Collins, Colorado, to take on the Colorado State Rams on Sept. 22, 2018.
The addition helped the Redbirds get one game closer to completing their 2018 non-conference schedule, as the two schools jointly announced the matchup. This will be the first meeting between Illinois State and Mountain West Conference member Colorado State. ISU has only faced one other member of the Mountain West in program history, a Sept. 27, 1997 loss at UNLV.
“I think this game is a great opportunity for our players, and I like to play one of these games at least every other year,” ISU head coach Brock Spack said. “It’s been hard to schedule games like this, but I am really excited to be heading out west to play Colorado State. When I was at Wyoming, CSU was one of our biggest rivals and we always enjoyed making that trip. For any of our fans thinking about making the trip, I urge them to do so as Fort Collins is one of the most beautiful places to visit in their country and we will be playing in a new on-campus stadium there, which I’m sure will be a cool place to play.”
CSU finished the 2016 season with a 7-6 overall record, ending the season with a loss to Idaho in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
In addition to its game against the Rams, Illinois State will host Eastern Illinois on Sept. 15 in the annual Mid-America Classic game in 2018. ISU has one more game remaining to fill out the non-conference portion of the 2018 schedule, before beginning Missouri Valley Football Conference play.
The Redbirds will play five home games at Hancock Stadium in 2017, with the home opener scheduled for Sept. 2 against Butler. ISU will also host Indiana State (Sept. 30), South Dakota for Homecoming (Oct. 21), Western Illinois on Family Weekend (Nov. 4) and five-time FCS national champion North Dakota State (Nov. 18) for the first time since 2012.
