A season full of growing pains, actual pain and disappointment for the Air Force may take a jolt of life on Saturday.

“Obviously it wasn’t the best start we wanted,” senior tailback Aiden Calvert said. “But the CIC is still there.”

Yes, the CIC — the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy — would cure all ills for the Falcons (1-3) as they begin a three-game losing streak. The competition between the three military academies begins with Navy kickoff at 10 a.m. at Falcon Stadium. The Air Force will then visit the Army on November 2nd and the Army and Navy will conclude the visit on December 14th.

The Falcons enter Saturday’s game as rare – and lopsided (10 points) – underdogs against the Midshipmen, who haven’t won in Colorado Springs since 2012.

Navy (4-0) enters the game averaging 46 points per game and is outscoring its opponents by 22.5 points per game. Quarterback Blake Horvath is the first college quarterback since Lamar Jackson in 2016 to score seven or more touchdowns in the first four games of a season. Jackson won the Heisman Trophy that year.

On paper it’s a one-sided duel. Unless the newspaper shows how this encounter went.

The recent history of Service Academy football games has been a series of low-scoring stalemates, regardless of results against other teams.

In 2022, the Falcons had scored more than 40 points in three of four games before their game against Navy, and the Midshipmen were a ticking time bomb, scoring 87 points in the two games following the matchup.

But in the direct duel the Falcons won 13:10.

Last year, Navy averaged 23.8 points per game in the five weeks leading up to the game against Air Force. The Falcons had climbed into the AP Top 25 and were averaging 37 points per game.

The Falcons won 17-6 in Annapolis – seven of those points came on a defensive score – as the teams combined for 17 punts.

Navy has scored more than 10 points against Air Force just once in the last six meetings. This trend has spread to other service academy games as well. The Air Force-Army winner has averaged 17 points in the last seven meetings and the Army-Navy winner has averaged 18.7 in that span.

The offensive systems, despite frequent flaws, have generally played into the hands of defenses who are familiar with what they see and equipped to stop what they see.

The motivation is also at the highest level.

“In fall camp we broke down our goals for the season. Our number one goal was to win the CIC from the start,” said Air Force senior linebacker Osaro Aihie. “There is still a lot of season ahead of us and we can still achieve a lot of growth. As long as we come together as a team and do what we need to do, just keep practicing hard and staying together, we’ll be fine.”

The Air Force started the season with, among other things, a new offensive line, quarterback, fullback and tailback. Injuries then occurred to fullback Dylan Carson, tailback Kade Frew and safety Camby Goff.

All three returned last week and the Falcons played their best football of the season for much of the first half. Things went wrong, as is common for the program in games at Wyoming, where Air Force hasn’t won since 2012, but this group grew in confidence when they finally saw what they could accomplish together.

“They will continue to improve,” Navy coach Brian Newberry said. “This is an important game for them, just like it is for us. I know we will do our best and I know they will continue to improve.”

Technically, Air Force is not out of contention for any of its goals other than a spot in the College Football Playoff. It has suffered three straight defeats, but a ten-win season is still possible. There are two losses for the Mountain West, but both teams in last season’s conference title game suffered two losses.

And as for the CIC trophy, not only is the record clean, but there is also the added bonus that comes with the opportunity to defeat a rival if they have achieved a high place.

“That means a lot,” Calvert said. “That’s what we play for – two games a year that you have to win. Especially as a senior, it’s a big deal to see this rivalry every year and see how these games go and also be able to contribute and get a big win.”