Rodney Stewart rushed for 195 yards and two touchdowns and passed for another as Colorado won its second straight game under interim coach Brian Cabral, 44-36, over Kansas State on Saturday.

Cody Hawkins passed for 202 yards and three scores. Scotty McKnight caught two touchdowns for Colorado (5-6, 2-5 Big 12), which dismissed head coach Dan Hawkins prior to last week’s game and now needs a win at Nebraska next weekend to become bowl eligible.

Kansas State (6-5, 3-5) built a 14-3 lead in the first quarter before the Buffaloes ran off 28 unanswered points. Stewart hit Toney Clemons with a 23-yard halfback pass for a touchdown to give Colorado its first lead in the second quarter and Hawkins found McKnight twice to stretch it to 30-14 early in the third quarter.

The schools traded touchdowns through the third and fourth quarters, with the Wildcats drawing within 44-36 on Carson Coffman’s second touchdown of the game with 6:50 left. Kansas State had one more chance late in the game, but Coffman was sacked on a 4th down play with 1:06 remaining.