According to Utah State football head coach Bronco Mendenhall, senior safety Ike Larsen was reinstated to the team last week, ending what was ultimately a seven-week suspension. Larsen was suspended from the team on Aug. 15, 2025 for what the program described as a “violation of team rules” and has missed the first five games of the Aggies’ season. Mendenhall said Larsen returned to team activities on Tuesday and practiced with the team on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with the entire team receiving the full weekend off as part of the team’s bye week. Mendenhall briefly addressed the team when Larsen made a return during a team meeting. “(Larsen has) worked hard to work through all the requirements that I thought were appropriate. And the team has welcomed him,” Mendenhall said. “It really has just been — seemed like it’s just been — business as usual since then. And my hope is that Ike has a fantastic finish of the season, both on and off the field, and academically, and everything else. I’d like it to see it really end well for not only him, but our program.” A return by Larsen would provide a boost to Utah State’s secondary

Hoping to see exciting, closely contested college football? Then Utah State is a team you should be keeping a close eye on just about every week from mid-October through late November. According to KFord.com projections, six of the Aggies’ remaining seven games are expected to be decided by less than one possession. Number of remaining Regular Season games with a projected spread of one-possessionArizona, Baylor, Delaware, San Jose State. Southern Miss and UTEP lead the way with 7️⃣ such games remainingWhile Charlotte, Nevada, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State and UCLA each have 0️⃣ pic.twitter.com/JyvZzJQqyQ — Kelley Ford (@KFordRatings) October 2, 2025 The only game KFord projects as not being a close game is the Aggies’ matchup with currently 1-3 Nevada on Nov. 8. Every other contest is close enough that one bounce of the ball could change the entire outcome. KFord has Utah State favored in only one of those six games — at home against San Jose State on Oct. 17 (USU’s homecoming game) — with the Aggies’ being slight-to-moderate underdogs in the remaining five. Though other computer-based projections have offered differing opinions on some of these games. While KFord favors Hawaii (giving them a 52% chance of winning), both