Setting the Stage: Rocky Mountain Showdown

FORT COLLINS – The attention is there, and they all know it. There's no reason to ignore it, just don't get lost in the shuffle

Enjoy it. See it for what it is.

An opportunity.

"I told the kids (Monday), I just came from Reno, Nevada and we had a lot of casinos there – it's like a big game of Texas Hold'em and all the chips are on the table," CSU coach Jay Norvell said. "That makes it fun. It spices the game up. This is why I coach. This is why our kids go to school, to play in games like this, to play in this kind of atmosphere."

The Rocky Mountain Showdown is on ESPN, so a national audience is on hand for the 8 p.m., kickoff. Long before any game starts Saturday, the college lead-in shows for both ESPN and Fox will be in Boulder. Colorado's new coach, Deion Sanders, is the draw, and how he's turned the program around and shot it into the national rankings after two weeks. Colorado State will be there, too, as the opponent.

It may look like a three-ring circus at times, but there's no need to ignore it.

"It's awesome," said CSU linebacker Chase Wilson, a Colorado kid. "It's the greatest opportunity there is, but at the end of the day it's just another opportunity for our chance to go out and prove ourselves and prove the type of team we want to be, so we're excited to do that."

Enjoying the attention is one thing, but the goal remains to remain locked into the primary task, which is trying to win a game. Against a rival. Do just that, the attention will linger, but then and only then.

CSU tight end Dallin Holker said the key for rivalry games is treat Tuesday like Tuesday. Repeat the process on Wednesday. Same for Thursday and Friday. With a late kickoff, temper the pre-game build up for a bit.

"You have to focus. I told the kids you can't flinch," Norvell said. "There are points in the game where Nebraska flinched; let's just be honest. In the second quarter, three straight dives they had turnover. You have to play focused, and the way you do that is you prepare. You have to prepare great; you've got to practice great; you have to study film and you have to watch the kicking film and you have to totally be prepared for the game so you can just go and play and have fun.

"That's the fun. When you go to a stadium with a bunch of guys who love you and have your back and you're ready to play, you're confident and you have clear eyes and you just go and have a great time, and that's what we want our kids to do. We want our kids to have a great week of practice, go prepare and go play. We're excited about that."

Colorado started the season on a roll. Colorado State wants to begin one with 11 consecutive games on the horizon. This Saturday, like any other, is an opportunity.

Norvell is encouraging his team to go all in.

"Like Texas Hold'em, scared money don't win it," he said.

Rivalry Reworded

Norvell talked about all the rivalry games he's been involved with through his coaching timeline. No matter where you go, or how imbedded you are, they mean something.

Even if it's the first time. Tight end Dallin Holker already understands what it means to not like half of a state having played in the Holy War as a member of BYU growing up in Utah. Name the game and the associated trophy whatever you like, they all carry venom.

"I definitely think BYU-Utah, that was definitely a crazy rivalry," Holker said. "I've only been here nine months now, but I definitely feel how big that rivalry was to me growing up in Utah … with Colorado my home, this is the most important rivalry to me now."

Norvell knows all the player really needs is the emotion required. Not overloaded, and regardless of the rivalry, the emotions are the same.

They just need to tap into what they know.

"No doubt. I kinda relate it when you're in high school and playing somebody across town and you know all the guys on those teams," Norvell said. "You're basically fighting for your neighborhood. That's basically what rivalry games are. We're fighting for our campus, our town, our region, our alumni and our student body. It becomes very personal. You don't want anybody coming into your backyard and beating you, and you love going into somebody's backyard and beating them.

"It gets personal."

Here and There

After a four-year hiatus and the previous 10 meetings being played in Denver, the Rocky Mountain Showdown returns to campus for the first time since 2009. Since the first meeting in 1893, the brunt of the series has been played in Boulder, 43 of the 91 meetings. … With 16 tackles in the opener, Jack Howell now has eight career games where he's reached double figures. … The Rams had four players finish with 10 or more tackles in the opener (Howell, Henry Blackburn, Ayden Hector, Chase Wilson). It's the first time that's happened since the final game of 2018 when four Rams hit double digits in a loss to Air Force.

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