FORT COLLINS - There was no coaching manual for this, no miracle play Sonny Lubick could send in from the sideline.

What do you do when your 28-year-old son is diagnosed with a rare, potentially deadly form of cancer? Whom do you consult? What goes through your mind? How do you work? How do you function? How do you sleep?

"It rocks your world, I'll tell you that," Lubick was saying this week as he prepared his Colorado State Rams for Saturday's opener against the University of Colorado at Invesco Field at Mile High. "It's with you every waking minute of every single day."

In mid-February 2006, Sonny Lubick and his wife, Carol Jo, were blindsided by the news Marc, the youngest of their three children, had a rare form of lymph-node cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma. They soon found out the disease was as impossible to comprehend as it was to spell.

Marc Lubick, an eminently classy and friendly guy who coaches receivers at CSU, has been recovering nicely ever since.

A recent checkup confirmed he was cancer-free after he spent much of last summer and the time since enduring painful, exhausting chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

The Lubicks feel blessed. It could have been much worse. The original diagnosis was grim. But with an indomitable spirit and a Ram-tough support system, Marc Lubick has moved past the ordeal. He's smiling and thriving again, making his happy-go-lucky presence felt on the practice field.

As life's curveballs go, though, this was a Steve Carlton 12-to-6 bender.

Always there

Sonny Lubick isn't like a lot of major-college football coaches. He doesn't view each Saturday's game as its own little Armageddon. He doesn't spend six nights a week sleeping on his office couch.

Lubick, who is 70 but looks and acts far younger, is, more than anything, human. He's compassionate. Never has he been an absentee father or husband. He is a man blessed with perspective, and never has that perspective served him better than during the past year.

"When something like that happens to your kid, it turns your whole life around," the elder Lubick said, shaking his head at the thought.

"You're sitting there in the hospital and your son has all these tubes and needles sticking out of him and you don't know what his future is and it's all you can do to keep from breaking down crying right then and there."

Oh, there were plenty of private times like that, times when Sonny and his wife of more than four decades shared a good cry. There were also times when Sonny and Carol Jo dug deep within their Christian faith for answers.

None of the Lubicks is a person who wears religion on their sleeves. But Sonny and Carol Jo have attended Catholic Masses virtually every Sunday of their lives, and, in their minds, the presence of a higher power went a long way toward easing the emotional burden.

"Sonny was very emotional through the whole thing," Carol Jo Lubick said Monday. "He grieved openly. He was very caring and tender with Marc. He wasn't afraid to show his feelings like some men are with their kids.

"Sonny doesn't like to talk about his faith much, but there's no question in my mind his faith helped him and helped me and helped Marc through this. When you're put in a situation like this, you have no choice but to take it one step at a time and let it play itself out.

"It's the toughest thing you'll ever face in your life, and you have to have faith and love and hope."

Carol Jo will never forget the look on her husband's face when a doctor first told them of the diagnosis.

"I looked at Sonny's face when the doctor told us Marc had cancer and it was like all the life had been sucked out of him," she said.

The Lubicks knew it was crucial to support Marc any way they could.

They went the extra mile. During Marc's stay at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. - and after his chemotherapy sessions in Denver - Sonny, Carol Jo, or both, would spend the night with him in his hospital room.

Marc's siblings, Matt and Michelle, became heavily involved in their brother's recovery.

Matt, an assistant football coach at Arizona State, was a frequent visitor. Michelle, who is married, has two sons and lives in Fort Collins, founded Ramstrong, a Fort Collins-based charity for cancer research.

The unflagging support and positive vibes from his family wasn't lost on Marc Lubick.

"My parents, my whole family, everybody was just unbelievable," he said Monday. "They took care of me both mentally and physically. There was a time when I couldn't do much but lie on my couch at my condo, and every day, somebody was there with me. If it wasn't my mom, it was my dad or my brother or my sister or a friend.

"I'll never forget when my dad would show up in the afternoon. I'd be laying there on the couch watching TV, kind of down, and he'd come in, toss me a sandwich and tell me to eat.

"We watched movies together. We had some long, long talks. I mean, my father and I have always been really, really close, but I really believe, when something like this happens, you get that much closer."

Always a fighter

"Marc was always the kind of kid who was willing to work hard for things, to fight for what he wanted in life," Sonny Lubick said. "I think that ended up being the perfect kind of personality to fight something like this.

"Marc attacked that cancer."

So did the medicine. After initially losing more than 20 pounds from an already slight frame, Marc slowly rebuilt his strength.

The chemo robbed him of his leg strength, and sometimes he would have to sit down during practice. But the CSU football family understood.

"To just imagine what he was going through was unbelievable to even think about," senior receiver Johnny Walker said. "But he was always upbeat, always wanting us to improve. That man was a warrior."

His family members have been warriors, too. A glimmer comes to Sonny Lubick's eye when he speaks of his healing son.

"He's out doing everything now," Lubick said. "He's playing golf. He's got his weight back. To see how it affected the team and how everyone, all the players and all the coaches, were so understanding and sympathetic, that was a very special thing I'll never forget."

It was a year that tested every fiber of the Lubicks' collective being.

It was a year no one should have to endure. But it was endured.

Ultimately, the ending was happier than any win on any football field, ever.

Marc Lubick timeline

Colorado State University assistant coach Marc Lubick's battle against a rare form of cancer:

• Mid-February 2006: After feeling tired and lethargic, Lubick, 28, sees a doctor and is diagnosed as suffering from rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer that attacks the body's lymph nodes and is found mostly in young children.

• Early March 2006: Admitted to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where lymph node dissection surgery is performed. A bone-marrow biopsy shows cancer cells in six of 10 lymph nodes. Surgery to remove the cancer cells is successful.

• Late March 2006: After 10 days in the hospital, begins a 24-week program of chemotherapy. Each Friday, has chemotherapy at Children's Hospital in Denver. Every third Friday, given three intravenous drugs instead of one and must stay in the hospital at least 24 hours.

• July 2006: Undergoes 23 days of radiation treatments at the Mayo Clinic.

• August 2006: Returns to field to coach the receivers on father Sonny's Lubick's staff.

• August 2006 to July 2007: Gets regular health checkups every four months and proves to be cancer-free.

• August 2007: Has CAT scans and blood work performed. All tests come back clean.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK

CSU

Easing into it

Coach Sonny Lubick said he doesn't want to get his players too excited about the game too early in the week.

"There's no sense in giving a fiery speech (Monday or today)," Lubick said. "They know the significance. It's our first game, plus it's CU at Invesco Field with 75,000 people or more.

"I think when we get on the bus to go down to Denver on Friday, that's when reality will strike. No matter how many times you've gone through it, when you're taking that bus ride to the stadium there's going to be a lump in everybody's throat."

New and ready

Lubick prefers to redshirt true freshmen, but he said one who could see action against CU is Eric Peitz, a tight end from Crofton, Neb. Peitz has impressed the coaching staff with his intelligence and ability to comprehend schemes.

Peitz, who also starred in basketball and track in high school, is listed as the No. 4 tight end on the depth chart after Kory Sperry, Chris Kawulok and Adam Seymore.

"I thought we were pretty good at tight end, but Adam Seymore has missed some time with an injury, so Peitz is in there right now as our third tight end," Lubick said. "We really got lucky with him. He's a 4.0 student who's very intelligent, and he's been very impressive since Day 1. He should play."

Injury report

The most significant injury that could affect Colorado State on Saturday is the sore knee of starting middle linebacker Jeff Horinek.

The third-year starter is listed as questionable for the game after tweaking a knee last week in practice.

CSU coaches will determine his status as the week goes on.

Also iffy are receiver/returner Damon Morton (shoulder) and defensive end Wade Landers (knee). Defensive end Bob Vomhof is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery and probably won't play.

CU

Surprise party?

No, that was last season.

Colorado caught Colorado State off-guard in the 2006 Rocky Mountain Showdown by starting junior Bernard Jackson at quarterback instead of senior James Cox.

Jackson promptly directed an opening touchdown drive for a 7-0 Buffaloes lead that didn't hold up. In what hardly was a show of firepower, CSU won 14-10.

The Buffs will start another new quarterback Saturday, and although redshirt freshman Cody Hawkins is an unknown commodity making his first college start, his coach/father doesn't believe the shock value will duplicate that of last season.

"That's not to say some of those elements aren't there," coach Dan Hawkins said. "But (the two quarterbacks) are not exactly in the same mode."

Jackson offered more of a running presence at quarterback. CU coaches hope Cody Hawkins will bring more balance to the offense.

No act, real drama

Monday was the first day of fall semester classes for CU students, and sophomore Nate Solder won't soon forget it.

The 6-foot-8, 270-pound tight end from Buena Vista witnessed a man grab a student, then slash at the student's throat with what appeared to be a 6- or 7-inch steak knife.

"It looked like a Shakespeare act; it seemed so randomly weird," Solder told the Boulder Daily Camera.

The incident occurred in the University Memorial Center. The student was not seriously injured; the unidentified assailant, said to be in his 50s, was arrested.

Injury report

Preseason camp produced only one major injury to a CU starter.

Freshman receiver Josh Smith is out indefinitely after suffering a bruised kidney in the second scrimmage. Defensive lineman Jason Brace (concussion) missed several practices for precautionary reasons but is expected to be available Saturday.

Tip for Texas A&M

Dan Hawkins' CU debut was nightmarish; the Buffs lost 19-10 to Montana State, a Division I-AA opponent that visits Texas A&M on Saturday.

Hawkins was asked during Monday's Big 12 Conference media call what tips he might offer the Aggies on their opening opponent.

After a long laugh, Hawkins advised Texas A&M not to show up with a new coach, new staff, new system and new starting quarterback.

He said those factors offset the upset being the "shocker" it seemed to most people but added, "There's no way to calculate the kind of hit we took."

THEY SAID IT

"It's interesting. After all the stuff that goes on in practice, (the media) still want to talk to the quarterback. I guess having my dad as head coach hasn't really helped out that too much."

Cody Hawkins, CU quarterback, No. 12 above, on being a media focal point

"All the extracurricular things might be a distraction, but (Cody) is good with that. But he's still a freshman, and there are freshman mistakes to be made."

Dan Hawkins, CU coach, on his son, the starter

Air Force

Offensive unveiling

Air Force senior cornerback Carson Bird can't hardly wait for the opener Saturday against South Carolina State to show off the Falcons' aggressive, 3-4 defensive scheme, which will feature lots of blitzing.

"It's taken me back to the peewee mind frame of just let loose and go play," he said. "You're going to (mess) up and give up plays but just do it 100 mph. It makes it a lot more fun to play. Instead of playing 8 yards off the line of scrimmage, cornerbacks will be playing tighter on receivers.

"When we're 10 to 15 yards off the ball, they run these free routes and the timing was perfect. Now we get in their face and throw their timing off, they don't get the perfect route or perfect release."

Senior free safety Bobby Giannini feels more appreciated.

"Last year, I felt like I didn't contribute much to the defense," he said. "I was just back there doing nothing. This year, I'm real excited about the different coverages we have and things that are going to happen."

Positive vibes

Air Force has had three consecutive losing seasons, which the seniors have focused on.

"All of us are really anxious to start the season on a good note and go out as winners," tailback Kip McCarthy said. "Air Force football has had a great tradition, going to bowl games, being the Commander-in- Chief's Trophy winners, and everyone is ready to put these past three years behind us and make coach (Troy) Calhoun's first season be a success."

Injury report

Senior backup tailback Chad Smith will be out four to six weeks after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. Freshman Savier Stephens, one of five freshmen on the Falcons' two-deep depth chart, is listed as second team to McCarthy. Senior fullback Ryan Williams still is bothered by his surgically repaired shoulder and won't be ready to play for a few weeks.

Northern Colorado

Numbers game

59.5 points is how much online oddsmaker BetUs.com expects Northern Colorado to lose by Saturday at Hawaii. Most oddsmakers don't set lines for regular-season games involving Division I-AA teams such as UNC. But Keith Glantz, whose Glantz-Culver Line appears in the Rocky Mountain News, says Bears fans shouldn't set their hopes too high for the game. "Unless they call off the troops, Hawaii should be able to score in the 70s," Glantz said. "It's just a practice game for them, like a preseason game in the NFL, but it counts in the standings. If they score 30 points in the first half they might call off the dogs and end up in the 50s, but I can also see them scoring in the 70s to send a message."

Slow starters

Since 1948, history shows, most first-year football coaches at Colorado left some fans wondering if the right hire had been made. Most of their second-year records weren't so stellar, either.

First Second Coach season Record season Record CU record Seasons

Dal Ward 1948 3-6-0 1949 3-7-0 63-41-6 11

Sonny Grandelius 1959 5-5-0 1960 6-4-0 20-11-0 3

Bud Davis 1962 2-8-0 Replaced - 2-8-0 1

Eddie Crowder 1963 2-8-0 1964 2-8-0 67-49-2 11

Bill Mallory 1974 5-6-0 1975 9-3-0 35-21-1 5

Chuck Fairbanks 1979 3-8-0 1980 1-10-0 7-26-0 3

Bill McCartney 1982 2-8-1 1983 4-7-0 93-55-5 13

Rick Neuheisel 1995 10-2-0 1996 10-2-0 33-14-0 4

Gary Barnett 1999 7-5-0 2000 3-8-0 49-39-0 7

Dan Hawkins 2006 2-10-0 2007 ? 2-10-0 1Source: Cu

holtzr@RockyMountainNews.com

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