MOSCOW - A collective 16,000 sets of lungs held their breath for a single moment, then, as Idaho safety Shiloh Keo stepped in front of Grant Stucker's late pass, every single one released into a deafening roar in the Kibbie Dome as Keo's interception clinched Idaho's 31-29 non-conference victory over Colorado State Saturday.

The capacity crowd at the Kibbie Dome bore witness to an epic back-and-forth battle between the Rams (3-2) and the Vandals (4-1) that wasn't over until Keo's late pick sealed it with 1:04 left to play.

"I see a football team that's growing up and I'm happy about that," Idaho head coach Robb Akey said.

Coach and players alike had high praise for the energetic capacity crowd.

"It was a great atmosphere in this Dome tonight," Akey said. "We saw it when we came rolling in here. When the team comes in here and the place is full, there's an energy to it. That was a game we had to be on all the way to the end, and that was a little extra life that the crowd generated for our football team."

Idaho senior receiver Max Komar had a career day with 12 catches for 152 yards, including the go-ahead touchdown with 6:22 remaining in the third quarter, while junior Eric Greenwood nabbed the first two touchdowns of his career to go along with career highs in catches (5) and yards (130).

A seemingly insignificant play late in the second quarter turned out to be all the difference, as Idaho senior Jeromy Jones blocked CSU's extra point following its third touchdown with 1:36 remaining in the first half.

When the Rams scored a late touchdown on a Stucker-to-Lou Greenwood 39-yard connection with 1:41 to play, they needed a two-point conversion - not an extra-point field goal - to tie the game, and the Vandal defense stuffed CSU's John Mosure on the attempt.

"The two extra-point defense plays - blocking that kick obviously made a big difference there and getting that two-point play stopped, ended up making a difference in the ball game," Akey said.

Idaho junior quarterback Nate Enderle rebounded from an opening-drive interception to throw for 333 yards and three touchdowns on 25-of-38 attempts. In Idaho's resurgent third quarter, Enderle hit 11 of 13 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns to turn a 20-10 halftime deficit into a 24-23 lead going into the final period.

Idaho put up 403 yards of offense, 333 of which came through the air, while CSU gained 436. Idaho converted six of its 12 third-down attempts, while the Rams made five of 13. Both teams had one interception each, while Idaho gained an extra turnover on a fourth-and-one stand from its own 12-yard line in the fourth quarter.

Things weren't all fun and games for Idaho, though, because it was all CSU in the first quarter. The Rams jumped out to a 14-0 lead after killing Idaho's first drive with a Nick Oppenneer interception in the end zone, then scored on back-to-back drives to immediately put Idaho in a hole.

"This football team has responded well to adversity this season," Akey said. "That's one of the improvements that really has been made by this team and the second half, I thought, really showed that tonight."

When asked if the team's 4-1 record changes any of the season goals, Komar replied that nothing has been altered.

"Since day one of fall camp, coach (Akey) has been preaching that our goal is to go to a bowl game, so that's what we've got our eyes set on right now," Komar said. "We're just taking one game at a time, that's our mentality right now."

CSU got things going earl after Oppenneer's 58-yard interception return out of the end zone. The Rams scored four plays later on a 20-yard pass from Stucker to Tyson Liggett. A 41-yard punt return set the Rams at their own 48 on the next drive, and Colorado State marched methodically down the field before scoring on a three-yard play-action pass from Stucker to Eric Pietz on the final play of the quarter.

Idaho earned its first points late in the second quarter, as Enderle hit Greenwood on a fade route down the right sideline with 3:48 remaining in the half. Two drives later, CSU marched down the field yet again and Stucker hit Dion Morton on a 34-yard pass to put the Rams up 20-7 before Jones' blocked extra point.

"We still had a lot of time left and we know that if we could just ground our feet as a defense, our offense is going to make plays for us," Keo said of the defense after the team fell behind early. "We really work together as a team this year and it shows out there on the field."

An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, paired with a 32-yard return by Kama Bailey set Idaho up with a short field on the ensuing kickoff, and the Vandals turned it into a 47-yard field goal from freshman kicker Trey Farquhar.

Idaho received the ball in the second half and quickly put itself back in striking position with a 45-yard bomb from Enderle to Greenwood to move the score to 20-17 in favor of CSU. The Rams missed a 50-yard field goal on the ensuing possession, which set up the drive that gave Idaho the lead for good on Enderle's 24-yard toss to Komar.

Stucker completed a long touchdown to Lou Greenwood with 1:41 left in the game to get within two. Keo recovered the onside kick, but Idaho was unable to get a first down and kill the clock. Stucker didn't get a chance for a game-winning drive, though, as Keo snatched his first pass of the drive at the CSU 34-yard line to ice the game.