FORT COLLINS - Dave Arnold has the look, the demeanor, the persona of an old-school football coach.

When it comes to all sorts of football coaching, he's been there and he's done that. And he knows this: To coach special teams, a guy has to be a bit out there.

"Most special-teams coaches are about half nuts, and I guess I qualify," Colorado State's kicking-game guru said this week as the Rams prepared for their Sept. 1 opener against rival Colorado at Invesco Field at Mile High.

"It's a crazy way to make a living, but it can be very uplifting and very rewarding."

Arnold, criticized some for the Rams' special-teams performance after he took over for the popular Brian Schneider three seasons ago, has quieted the doubters by leading a kicking-game renaissance the past couple of seasons. This fall, CSU's special teams appear poised to help the Rams come back from a desultory 4-8 record in 2006.

All the elements seem to be in place for Arnold's units this season. Senior Jimmie Kaylor, with a strong and increasingly accurate leg, should be one of the most effective punters in the nation. Kicker Jason Smith has shown he can handle the pressure. Returners Damon and Dion Morton and Johnny Walker all have big-play potential. And the kick-coverage teams are laced with aggressive, team-first veterans who know what they're doing.

So Arnold is smiling these days, though he knows one glaring mistake can ruin the reputation of a special-teams coach. At 62, having crisscrossed the country coaching at various colleges and in the NFL, he knows that goes with the territory.

"The kicking game is all about attention to detail, and if you mess up on those details, the result is there for everybody to see," said the Michigan native who coached with his current boss, Sonny Lubick, at the University of Miami in the early '90s. "I tell our kids all the time, 'You don't have a second or third down to make up for a mistake on special teams. You have one chance.' "

Arnold figures he has the guys who can make that one chance count.

The CSU special teams last year were reasonably good but suffered some because of the team's overall lack of experience. The 2006 Rams had only 10 seniors. This team has 21. That's huge in the kicking game, Arnold said.

"The more experience you have in the kicking game, the better you're going to be, and to have 21 seniors really, really helps," Arnold said. "When you have that many seniors, you have a lot of guys who have been out there in key special- teams situations on all the units. That's crucial.

"I look at the No. 1 guys we have on the depth chart in the kicking game, and just about every one of them has been out there and knows what they're doing."

CSU fans can remember a time when their Rams routinely made big, game-turning special-teams plays. The last couple of years, those pivotal plays have made a comeback.

Damon Morton scored on a 58-yard punt return to help beat Fresno State last season. The previous season, CSU clinched a berth in the Poinsettia Bowl when Walker scored on a long punt return in the final regular-season game.

Walker, now a senior and also one of the team's top wide receivers, is bullish on the Rams' return game this fall.

"You're going to see some big returns from us this year," said the senior from Lancaster, Calif. "Damon will get his share, and, hopefully, I'll get my share when I get in there. A big play on special teams - a return, a blocked kick, a nice punt - can totally change the momentum of a game. A play like that can seal the deal, and I think we have the kind of guys who can do that consistently."

holtzr@RockyMountainNews.com