By Ryan Greene

Wed, Oct 1, 2008 (1:22 a.m.)

Jacob Hales has a list of things he wants to do in life. Whether it's actually written down anywhere is an unknown, but he said the 'list' is something every man has.

On his are things such as visiting Costa Rica and Prague someday.

Until last weekend, it also included winning the Fremont Cannon and getting his name on one of the senior plaques at Rebel Park, joining others who got the best of UNR.

"But if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen," the senior defensive tackle said Tuesday following UNLV football practice. "Just got to cross it off the list and move on."

It's not just the Rebels seniors who put it in the past as the team returned in pads for the first time since Saturday's 49-27 loss to the Wolf Pack.

"One of the things we talked about today was bouncing back, putting everything behind us, and even though in some ways this game was different because of the significance of the rivalry and the in-state (factor) and everything, one of the things we talked about with our team today is that we're in much the same position we were after Utah," UNLV coach Mike Sanford said. "We lost a game that we thought we were going to win in a situation that was very difficult and very disappointing, but we put it behind us, came back the next week and beat Arizona State.

"Today, I thought their attitude was great, thought we had a great practice," Sanford added. "There wasn't any moping around or any kind of a trace of anything where I would feel concerned that we haven't put that game behind us."

That may have been more important for Hales and his fellow starting defenders more than anyone else.

In reviewing the UNR tape, Sanford and his staff tallied 24 missed tackles as the Wolf Pack put together 620 yards of total offense -- 444 of that coming on the ground.

That said, on Tuesday it was back to fundamentals with a slew of tackling drills, with the coaching staff hoping that the idea of wrapping up and finishing hits doesn't stray this weekend at Colorado State.

"Sometimes you want that game-changing hit to maybe spark the team, but I don't know what happened Saturday," said defensive back Geoffery Howard. "We didn't tackle very well and that's what we're getting back to now.

"(CSU) is a very different team. They like to throw the ball deep down the field a lot. They like to run, but it's a straight-ahead run."

Of course, for CSU fifth-year senior Billy Farris to be an effective pocket passer, he'll need to be set up nicely by a run game.

If statistics say anything, though, it could be a prime opportunity for the UNLV run defense to atone for what the Wolf Pack did. Even though the Rebels' run defense ranks last in the Mountain West right now, allowing 212.4 yards per game on the ground, Colorado State isn't necessarily ripping off huge chunks of yardage. CSU is eighth in the league in rushing offense (109.2 ypg).

On the flip side, UNLV is trying to get Frank Summers back on track this weekend out of the backfield. He gained a season-low 20 yards on just nine carries against UNR. The Rebels are one spot ahead of the Rams in the conference in rushing offense, gaining 131.8 yards per game. CSU is allowing 135.0 ypg.

Something has to give, and the Rebels don't seem to be in too charitable of a mood with Saturday's wounds still fresh.

"We beat ourselves, we didn't play hard, we had tons of missed tackles, we just didn't play well," Hales said. "Hopefully that toughness will come out in the next game, because they've got two good running backs that are gonna be tough."