It's the last gasp - but all the UNM football team can do is exhale in disgust.
For the first time in eight years, the Lobos aren't bowl-eligible at 4-7 overall and 2-5 in the Mountain West Conference. UNM was the lone MWC team that was bowl-eligible every year since 2001.
"We're disappointed, obviously," senior linebacker Zach Arnett said. "We had a streak going. We just didn't do enough throughout the course of the season. (It) doesn't change the fact that we have another opportunity to play this weekend."
For several UNM seniors, it's the Last Supper, and the Lobos will look to cook up a bitter entrée for the 4-6 Colorado State Rams, who are still alive in the bowl chase.
"We want to send (our seniors) out with a bang," junior Ian Clark said. "We want to run up the score on (Colorado State). We're not playing for a bowl game; we're playing for ourselves. They still have a chance to become bowl-eligible. They have a little more on their plate. We definitely want to spoil that."
In its last two visits to Fort Collins, Colo., UNM collected two victories, squeezing out a 20-19 win in 2006 and a 26-17 victory in 2004. If the Lobos win Saturday, it'll mark the first time in the UNM-CSU series that the Lobos have won three consecutive times in Fort Collins.
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On an individual level, Arnett has an opportunity to surpass a Lobo legend. If the senior linebacker - who is tied for first in the MWC and tied for fifth nationally in forced fumbles with five - forces a fumble against the Rams, it will be the most in a single season since former All-American Brian Urlacher had five in 1999.
But as the finality of his career inches closer, Arnett backpedals from talking about it.
"I have no idea (what I'll feel like)," he said. "We'll see afterward. I'm just worried about playing the game right now - last one, though. Should be fun. We'll make the most of it."
That's all the Lobos can do.
In a year punctuated by injuries to at least 18 players, including quarterback Donovan Porterie's disheartening loss four games into the season, Arnett said the Lobos have a good nucleus of players - they just couldn't make enough plays.
"You look at all the games, and they come down to a couple big plays," he said. "You either make them, or the other team makes them. Unfortunately, this year we didn't make enough of them in those close games. That's what it comes down to. You can't do anything about it now."
Clark, too, has been sidelined for two games with a nagging injury to his shoulder. The junior will have surgery at the conclusion of the season to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder.
As of right now, though, Clark said he wants to finish the season on a good note - by beating the Rams.
"I'm not one to badmouth a team," he said, "but I don't want to lie down and let (Colorado State) walk all over us."
Football at Colorado State
Saturday, Noon
Fort Collins, Colo.
