DURANGO, Colo. — Inside the Fort Lewis College football team's locker room hangs four calls to action: Trust. Respect. Extreme ownership. Sacrifice.

All four figure to be crucial pieces for the Skyhawks as they move forward under first-year head coach, Brandon Crosby. Starting at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7 with the team's 2019 season opener on the road against New Mexico Highlands University.

"I have those words up there for a reason," said Crosby, who served as the Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach at FLC in 2018 after coming over from the University of Nevada.  "We use those words as motivation and as pillars for our foundation. When things inevitably go bad during a game, you must understand that how you feel and react to those situations are up to you. You can let it affect you or you can move on, fix it and turn it into a better outcome."

Fort Lewis players and coaching staff are aware they've been picked to finish 11^th in the RMAC coaches' preseason poll and are looking to post their first winning season since 2015. But instead of focusing their energy on fighting the old, Crosby and his staff are determined to build something new.

"I've coached at every level, from NCAA Division I down to high school, and have seen all types of organizations," Crosby said. "At the end of the day, it's all about the kids figuring out they love each other, they like the direction the team is going, and they are excited about the future. If they can believe this is the best place in the country for them, we can win a lot of games."

The first building block comes on the recruiting trail where the Skyhawks added nearly four dozen players to the roster in the offseason. The additions include four NCAA Division I transfers and a handful of newcomers from the junior college ranks.

"There is an old saying that, 'it's not about the X's and O's, it's about the Jim's and Joe's.' Recruiting is the foundation for any program," Crosby said. "You have to have the guys who will compete and do the things you need them to do on a Saturday. Recruiting is the No. 1 thing and I think we've done a good job of bringing in the right type of kids."

On the offensive side of the ball, Fort Lewis focused on adding playmakers to a returning cast of skill players that includes junior running back Brayden Lucero (642 rush yards, three touchdowns), and senior wide receivers Parker Strahler and Arealous Hughes, each of whom surpassed 300 yards receiving and two touchdowns in 2018.

"Hughes and Strahler will be instrumental in helping us get the ball down the field. They're very talented kids and are going to be hard to replace when they graduate," Crosby said. "We've also recruited in some guys like Isaac Leppke from the University of Wyoming. I think he can be one of the best wide receivers in the conference. There's not a lot of guys walking around who are 6'5 and he was one of the top high school hurdlers in California. We also added Markez Boykin from Black Hills State. He is 6'4 and has some serious speed, so we got a lot bigger on the outside as far as receivers go."

The Skyhawks also beefed up their interior personnel to help address a running game that averaged 2.8 yards per carry last season.

Junior offensive lineman Angel Verdoza, a 6-foot, 5-inch, 325-pound transfer from Mesa Community College, sophomore Devon Taylor (6'4, 340 lbs.) from Humboldt, Army transfer Riko Tamasese (6'1, 360 lbs.), and Darrius Mosley (6'5, 308 lbs.) from Trinity Valley are just a few of the new additions up front for the Skyhawks. They're penciled in to join elder statesman Brandon Redd (6'2, 290), a senior center from Visalia, California, on the FLC offensive line.

"One of my old mentors always use to say, 'the big ones eat the little ones.' The bigger you can get on the offensive line, usually it's for the better," Crosby said. "I think we'll be able to lean on some people."

Fort Lewis has also brought in junior Emmanuel Nwosu (6'0, 230 lbs.) from Santa Barbara City College and redshirt sophomore Jeff Hansen (5'10, 202 lbs.) to add some more muscle and depth to the running back corp.

As for the quarterback position, Crosby said that redshirt junior Jake Lowry, junior Erik Ornduff, freshman Connor Apodaca and Durango native Terrence Trujillo are still locked in a position battle.

Lowry was the initial starter in 2018 for three games, highlighted by two touchdowns and 346 yards passing against New Mexico Highlands, before suffering a season-ending injury. The dual-threat quarterback also ran for 166 yards and two scores.

Ornduff saw action in the final three games last season, finishing with a team-best quarterback ranking of 127.96, 354 passing yards, and four touchdowns versus one interception.

Trujillo, a junior transfer from Eastern New Mexico University, and Apodaca, a product of Windsor High School, have each shown flashes in practice as they continue to learn a new offensive scheme.

"I tell the quarterbacks all the time that if they can just buy in to doing what is best for the team, you may or may not get the starting job opportunity, but when the opportunity does knock you should be ready," Crosby said. "We all want to be on the same page and that is to win football games. I think they've all done a good job of working together toward what we're trying to accomplish."

On the defensive side of the ball, Fort Lewis fans will see the familiar face of Ed Rifilato, who returns to the sidelines as the Defensive Coordinator. The 2019 season will be Rifilato's 15^th year in Durango across three stints dating back to 2003.

"Coach Rifilato has been a great defensive coordinator his entire career. The attitude and positive thinking he exudes around the office and the players is great to be around," Crosby said.

The Skyhawks' defense, which ranked third against the run in the RMAC last season at 145.6 yards per game, will be built around senior defensive lineman George Marpaung and the linebacker duo of seniors Suli Tukumoeatu and Darrian Stickney.

Stickney finished second on the team last season in tackles with 69, while Marpaung led the team in tackles for a loss (14) and Tukumoeatu paced all Skyhawks with nine pass breakups.

Fort Lewis will also welcome in a slew of new players on defense, such as Fanon Vines, a transfer from the University of Nevada, Ka'Lonn Milton (Fresno State), junior Braylan Davis (Mt. San Antonio), senior Javonte Norman, junior Duane Jones Jr., and Max Scott.

The 2019 campaign for FLC begins at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7 on the road against New Mexico Highlands University, which finished 4-7 overall in 2018. The Skyhawks then return home to host Dixie State University at 12 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14 in what will be the Trailblazers final season inside the RMAC before moving to NCAA Division I.

Those will be the first two games of a 10-game schedule for the Skyhawks. Each game representing an opportunity to take another step forward.

"We want Fort Lewis College to represent the RMAC the right way and we want people to think about us not as a side dish, but a main entrée in the conference," Crosby said. "There's a million clichés a coach can give their team, but it's up to the players believing in themselves that they can win and still win when things don't always go their way. If we can get them to believe that for four quarters, no matter what, they're going to eventually be able to win more reps, win more plays than the other team, and win more games. That's the goal."