Forecast for snow no sweat to Rebels

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Nov. 12, 2004 | 10:12 a.m.

Christmas is still about six weeks away. But when some members of the UNLV football heard the weather forecast for Saturday morning's game at Colorado State, it brought to mind the lyrics of a familiar Christmas carol.

"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."

Forecasts are calling for temperatures in the low 30s on the Front Range with a 30 percent chance of snow flurries. And UNLV players, especially old-school linebackers Ryan Claridge and Adam Seward, seemed to get fired up about the possibility of playing in the white stuff.

"That's awesome," senior Claridge, a native of Almont, Mich., said. "I'll be out there with no sleeves. I'll be ready to go. That's great football weather. You can't ask for anything better than that.

"You look at all the old archives of NFL films and you see the cold air blowing out of their facemasks and the snow flurries. I mean, that's what you live for. It's great."

Even Seward, an outspoken Chicago Bears fan who spent most of his youth playing in the heat of Las Vegas, said he was looking forward to the much cooler conditions.

"Playing football in Las Vegas you don't get to see a lot of cold weather and it's disappointing because football is such a cold-weather sport," Seward said. "Being able to play in snow hopefully ... I'd like that. I think our team would be up for it."

UNLV got a taste of cold weather last year in its season-ending 35-24 victory at Wyoming. Temperatures were a sunny 40 degrees that day but the field at War Memorial Stadium was lined by snow drifts from a blizzard earlier in the week. Some players threw snowballs at each other as they retreated to the locker room afterward.

"Yeah, it was cold at Wyoming last year and everybody played well," Claridge said. "Hopefully we can do that again this time."

Sophomore Ernest Gordon will replace Dodd-Masters at cornerback and make his third college start, but depth is a major concern. Weber State transfer Shannon Nowden, slowed much of the season by a turf toe, now is the top backup at both corner spots. ... Starting safety Jamaal Brimmer, who left the Wyoming loss with bruised ribs, said he expects to play Saturday. ...

Colorado State (3-6, 2-3) is guaranteed its first losing season since 1993, Sonny Lubick's first season in Fort Collins. So what do the Rams have to play for? "The rest of this season is about playing football and enjoying it," Lubick said. "What am I coaching for? What are the players playing for? We're playing to win. You keep doing your job and you do it with passion and just go out and play." ...

UNLV and Colorado State are tied for the conference lead in turnovers. Both teams have surrendered the ball 26 times. The Rebels rank 111th nationally in turnover margin (minus-1.22) while the Rams are 113th (minus-1.56). By comparison, Utah and Air Force are tied for the fewest turnovers in the conference with 10.