Was curious so I looked it up, starting in Sonny Lubick's second year (1994) through 2003, during that 10-year run, CSU was 86-32 (.761) with six conference titles and four 10+ win seasons. They finished ranked in the top 16 teams three times. Not too shabby...
Of course, pretty much dog poo since then (minus one year when McElwain went 10-3).