But the game refused to follow the Hollywood script.

CSU had to accept a 35-27 loss against the Boars, who now remain the only unbeaten team in the competition.

A big crowd of former players and their families were on hand to watch the entertaining clash at University Oval and they never lost their voice as the hosts had to spend the whole game playing catch-up footy.

CSU were able to fight back from a 15-point deficit to give the Boars a big scare towards the end of the second half but it wasn't to be.

The hosts actually outscored the Boars five tries to four but three penalties for the Parkes men, plus an extra conversion, proved crucial.

They might not have got the result but CSU coach Dave Conyers said it was nice to see the team never lose their fighting spirit.

"It turned into the great game that we expected. We unfortunately missed five shots on goal and that ended up proving the difference in the score," he said.

"We had a brand new backline and they're still getting to know one another, so we expected that they could struggle a bit. They still lack that bit of cohesion and that's something that takes time to develop.

"I can't fault their commitment today though. Their energy and enthusiasm was first rate."

As the CSU backline still work towards getting themselves on the same page the team has unconventionally turned towards their forwards to be the focal point in attack.

It paid off on Saturday too, as several CSU tries came through brute force.

Conyers said it makes for a different approach compared to previous seasons in the university team but the extra experience in the CSU pack makes it possible.

"We took three tighthead scrums off them, so for a student team to be able to do that is incredible," he said.

"Because we've got an inexperienced backline we reverted to those pick-and-go plays to try and manufacture some points, and that was working really well.

"I don't think we really had the comeback in us with the amount of time that was left but I thought we did a great job to pull the margin back a bit to where it finished."

The teams exchanged tries in the first half before a period of Parkes dominance saw them get out to a 25-10 lead just after the break.

CSU produced some of their strongest football of the day from that point onwards.

But at times the students remain their own worst enemies.

"We just made some crucial errors. We lost the ball off the kick-off three times and they scored twice off that," Conyers said.

"We came back strongly and the boys played for 80 minutes. It's obviously disappointing for them to lose in front of that crowd but they're going to learn from it and they'll be hungrier next time."

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