Week 5 of the college football season brings five games across three days to CBS Sports Network, which will carry action on Thursday and Friday nights before a triple-header on Saturday.
Thursday will feature a battle between 1-3 Conference USA teams trying to keep their bowl-bid dreams alive, as Western Kentucky travels to Las Cruces to face New Mexico State. Friday night will feature more Conference USA action as 3-1 Liberty travels north to face 2-2 Delaware, with the winner getting a leg up in the race for the conference title game.
Saturday’s triple-header begins in Storrs, Connecticut, at noon, where Syracuse travels east to face UConn in a rematch of a highly entertaining battle from a year ago, which the Orange pulled out in overtime at home. The action shifts west for the second game of the day at 3:30 p.m., as UNLV hosts Cal in a matchup of two teams that haven’t lived up to preseason expectations and are in desperate need of a victory.
Boise State, fresh off a dominant win over Western Michigan, will look to make another statement as the top team in the Group of 6 in the nightcap as they host Utah State in their first-ever Pac-12 conference game.
CBS Sports Network will carry all four games, with full viewing info, betting lines and key storylines to follow as Week 5 unfolds.
All times Eastern | Odds via SportsLine consensus
Western Kentucky at New Mexico State
Date: Thursday, Oct. 1 | Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Aggie Memorial Stadium, Las Cruces, New Mexico
TV: CBS Sports Network [Channel finder]
Live stream: CBSSports.com | Mobile: CBS Sports App
Spread: New Mexico State -2.5
The Hilltoppers and Aggies both come into this game at 1-3, making this a pivotal early-season showdown in Conference USA. The winner will get back on the right track and keep a bowl game in sight, while the loser will be stuck in a deep hole as they approach midseason.
New Mexico State is the slight favorite at home, as the well-traveled Hilltoppers will be playing their fourth game away from home already this season and may be a bit road weary. These two teams do have a common opponent in FCS school Mercyhurst, with Western Kentucky winning 52-7 last week and New Mexico State winning 51-14 in Week 2.
Liberty at Delaware
Date: Friday, Oct. 2 | Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Tubby Raymond Field at Delaware Stadium — Newark, Delaware
TV: CBS Sports Network [Channel finder]
Live stream: CBSSports.com | Mobile: CBS Sports App
Spread: Liberty -7
Liberty comes into its CUSA opener on a roll, having won three straight, including an impressive victory on the road at Coastal Carolina last week. The Blue Hens, meanwhile, are licking their wounds after taking a beating on the road at Virginia, but will hope to turn the page at the start of conference play. Delaware also has a win over Coastal Carolina this year as a common opponent with the Flames, and the winner of this game will throw their hat in the ring as a threat in Conference USA alongside Jacksonville State.
Syracuse at UConn
Date: Saturday, Oct. 3 | Time: 12 p.m.
Location: Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field — East Hartford, Connecticut
TV: CBS Sports Network [Channel finder]
Live stream: CBSSports.com | Mobile: CBS Sports App
Spread: Syracuse -6.5
The Orange have gotten off to a rough start to 2026, with losses to Cal and Pitt, opening their season 0-2 in the ACC. A road trip to Connecticut will tell us a lot about where the Orange are both physically and mentally, as they are road favorites of just under a touchdown, but will need to be careful against a live Huskies squad. UConn comes in at 2-2 but is coming off a bye week after blowing out Southern Miss and will have plenty of belief they can hang with Syracuse after last year’s OT thriller.
Cal at UNLV
Date: Saturday, Oct. 3 | Time: 3:30 p.m.
Location: Allegiant Stadium — Paradise, Nevada
TV: CBS Sports Network [Channel finder]
Live stream: CBSSports.com | Mobile: CBS Sports App
Spread: UNLV -2.5
The Tosh Lupoi era has not gotten off to an ideal start, as Cal is 2-2 with a couple of lopsided losses to UCLA and Clemson. The most surprising part of Cal’s early-season swoon has been how pedestrian the offense has looked in quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele’s sophomore campaign. JKS was one of college football’s top freshmen a year ago, but the Golden Bears’ new coaching staff has yet to unlock his best in 2026. Now they have to travel to Las Vegas to face a UNLV squad that finally got rolling with a comfortable win over Akron last week, but has already seen their playoff dreams likely die with a pair of early losses to Memphis and North Texas. The Runnin’ Rebels can still accomplish their goals in the Mountain West this season, and will be looking at a home game against a struggling Cal team as an opportunity to jumpstart a run heading into their full conference slate.
Utah State at Boise State
Date: Saturday, Oct. 3 | Time: 3:30 p.m.
Location: Albertsons Stadium — Boise, Idaho
TV: CBS Sports Network [Channel finder]
Live stream: CBSSports.com | Mobile: CBS Sports App
Spread: Boise State -21
Utah State finally got its first win of the season last week against Troy, and the Aggies’ reward is a trip to Boise to face the favorite for the Group of 6’s Playoff spot, Boise State. The Broncos thumped Western Michigan on the road on Saturday in a 32-7 win that made yet another statement about their place among the G6 elite, and now head home for their first conference game in the newly formed Pac-12. Boise State boasts one of the nation’s top rushing attacks, with Dylan Riley ranking third in the country with 592 yards on the ground, and they’ll lean on Riley and that rushing game against a Utah State defense that’s 80th against the run nationally.
