These Rams a Team on the Rise : Holiday Bowl: Colorado State tries to make it Moeller’s worst season at Michigan.

They are 10-1.

Ten and one.

They are ranked 10th in the nation.

Tenth .

Yet, outside the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains, not many think of Colorado State’s Rams as a football powerhouse. Certainly not the folks in Ann Arbor, Mich., where the mighty Wolverines often start the season among the nation’s first five.

Even in a down year, Gary Moeller’s Michigan is a daunting sight for a Western Athletic Conference champion, particularly one that has been to all of two bowls (Raisin and Freedom) in its less-than-storied football history.

So in the name of respectability, Colorado State will be aiming for a victory tonight when it faces the No. 20 Wolverines (7-4) in the Thrifty Rental Car Holiday Bowl at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.

“We’re definitely not intimidated,” Ram quarterback Anthoney Hill said. “We’ve come too far for that. We worked from the bottom up.”

The work began in 1993 with the arrival of Coach Sonny Lubick, who came from Miami to replace the controversial Earle Bruce. In Lubick’s first season at Ft. Collins, the Rams were 5-6. But they won their final three games and have won 13 of 14, losing only to Utah in Salt Lake City.

Win or lose tonight, it has been an emotional ride for Lubick’s Rams. Michigan, on the other hand, needs a victory after ending the regular season with a 22-6 loss to Ohio State to finish third in the Big Ten. Another defeat would give Moeller his worst record since succeeding Bo Schembechler in 1990.

Michigan has the big names and even bigger players. But Colorado State’s offense is so unpredictable, the Rams cannot be discounted.

“I wouldn’t want them to get into an offensive battle with us,” Hill warned.

The Wolverines have no intentions of such foolishness. This, despite an imposing offense that has solid running backs in Tyrone Wheatley, who had 1,064 yards and 11 touchdowns in nine games, and Tim Biakabutuka, who had 713 yards and seven touchdowns in 10 games, and senior quarterback Todd Collins, who passed for 2,356 yards and 11 touchdowns, including 1,033 yards to receiver Amani Toomer.

Lubick is not quite sure how to stop Michigan.

“When you think of stopping their running game, then they pass,” he said. “They are a little more physical than anybody we faced this year.”

Lubick was Miami’s defensive coordinator from 1988 to ’92 so he knows something about stopping big-time offenses. The Hurricanes won two national championships and were runners-up once during his tenure.

Still, Lubick is not sure whether the experience will help tonight.

“At Miami, all I did was get on the bus (to go to a bowl game) when they told me to,” he said. “We’ll have 12 or 13 practices before the game. . . . I don’t know what else (a coach) can do.”

Neither does Moeller, who marveled at Lubick’s defensive schemes while watching videotape of Colorado State. He reminded his players this week about Colorado State’s ability to play aggressively even when being pushed around.

“All year long, we played better teams with big lines,” Ram defensive tackle Steve Hodge said. “A lot of our guys don’t have the size or numbers of Michigan, but we like to take on the challenge.”

Wheatley, whose Heisman Trophy hopes ended with an early-season injury, is wary of that attitude.

“I wouldn’t say (we can) run through them,” he said. “I wouldn’t say we are going to try to go in and overpower them. You try to use too much power and all of a sudden they will run past you.”

Colorado State has been doing it that way all season. Whether mounting a running game or passing to a group of fleet receivers, the Rams have proved to be dangerous beyond the front range of the Rockies, where they have had a season to remember.