Liberty Bowl: No. 23 Colorado St. 22, No. 22 Louisville 17

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) _ This time, the Colorado State Rams finished off their season in style. <br><br>Before the Liberty Bowl, the Colorado State coaching staff kept reminding the players that they were

Saturday, December 30th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) _ This time, the Colorado State Rams finished off their season in style.

Before the Liberty Bowl, the Colorado State coaching staff kept reminding the players that they were just 1-3 their last four bowls. The constant reminders worked as Cecil Sapp rushed for a career-high 160 yards and a touchdown as the No. 23 Rams beat No. 22 Louisville 22-17 on Friday.

``This is just the icing on the cake,'' Rams defensive tackle Mike Mackenzie said. ``It was something we were not finishing in our last couple of seasons, so I think it was very important that we do that.''

Just being in Memphis was enough of a reminder for some Rams. They lost this game last season 23-17 to Southern Mississippi.

``That just shows we had more resolve this time to get it done,'' said Colorado State coach Sonny Lubick, whose previous bowl victory came in the 1997 Holiday Bowl against Missouri.

The Rams (10-2) definitely had enough defense to slow down the Cardinals, Conference USA's best scoring team. Even though Louisville (9-3) outgained the Rams 397 yards to 315, the Cardinals failed to score more than 32 points for only the third time this season.

It didn't hurt that the Rams recovered three fumbles, turning one into a 16-yard reverse for a touchdown by Frank Rice for a 16-10 halftime lead. They also shut out Louisville in the third quarter, only the second time that's happened this season.

``We gave them momentum, and they made plays,'' Louisville quarterback Dave Ragone said. ``Maybe experience beat us, but all we can do is learn from this. They're the hardest working team we have faced all year.''

Colorado State controlled the clock for more than 35 minutes by handing the ball to Sapp a Liberty Bowl-record 36 times. The sophomore responded with his best game yet in topping the 35 carries by Colorado's Bob Anderson in 1969 against Alabama.

``I could still go out there and play another football game,'' said Sapp, whose last run was a 10-yarder to the Louisville 5 before the Rams knelt down to finish the victory.

Running was an excellent idea on a day where the temperature dipped into the mid-20s by halftime with the wind chill hovering at 0 due to gusts up to 28 mph.

``They're a physical group and did a good job running it,'' said Louisville coach John L. Smith, 0-3 in bowl games with the Cardinals. ``When it came time to control the game and be physical, they did that. They got after us on the line of scrimmage and made it the type of game they wanted to play, which was more of a physical game and it worked.''

Ragone, Conference USA's offensive player of the year, tried to rally a team that had won four games this season despite trailing at halftime.

He pulled the Cardinals within 19-17 early in the fourth quarter with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Deion Branch, who tied a bowl record with 10 receptions. But that would be all the Cardinals would get, and their final drive ended with 3:10 left as John Howell sacked Ragone on fourth-and-7.

Ragone was 24-of-37 for 321 yards and two touchdowns, while Branch finished with 170 yards receiving.

It was the slimmest margin of victory since Georgia beat Arkansas 20-17 in 1987 in the bowl now sponsored by the AXA Financial Group.

Louisville led 10-3 before Colorado State scored 13 unanswered points in the second quarter off a 2-yard run by Sapp and Rice's reverse. C.W. Hurst also added field goals of 24, 21 and 32 yards.

``Obviously, this is not the way we intended to end the season,'' Smith said of his Cardinals who had been looking for only the school's second 10-victory season.

``We kept snapping back all year, but we didn't snap back the way we had in the other games.''