Deion Sanders said last year’s rivalry game against Colorado State was personal.
Colorado State’s headline-making pass-catch duo is looking to make this year’s version personal, too.
“We owe them one. That’s been sittin’ on everybody’s minds since we came back from break. We owe them,” Colorado State receiver Tory Horton, who is questionable for Saturday’s game with a groin injury, told CBS News Colorado this week. “I don’t feel like we left it all on the field because we should have murdered them guys. They came out with that attitude as they were on top of the world. This ain’t no Cinderella story.”
Last year, Colorado was a 27.5-point favorite against Colorado State and trailed by 11 in the fourth quarter before rallying for a double-overtime win in Boulder.
“They came out with that attitude and thought it was going to be a cakewalk,” Colorado State quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi said. “They got a rude, rude awakening real quick. I think it goes to show the hype, the media train, all that only gets you so far. At the end of the day, you have to line up 11 guys against our 11 guys and we’ll find out who wants it more. We’ll see how far Instagram followers gets them.”
Days before kickoff, Colorado State coach Jay Norvell took a shot at Sanders, who often conducts news conferences wearing a hat and sunglasses, during his radio show.
“When I talk to grown-ups, I take my hat off and my glasses off,” Norvell said. “That’s what my mother taught me.”
Sanders responded by saying he was a “grown man” and gave his entire team a pair of his signature sunglasses. He also provided the College GameDay desk with pairs of his glasses during a show, too. Blenders Eyewear later said the dust-up between the two intrastate rivals produced $1.2 million in sales.
GO DEEPER
Norvell jabs Deion; CU coach says he’s ‘consistent’
In last year’s showdown, Colorado star Travis Hunter suffered a lacerated liver on a late hit from Colorado State defensive back Henry Blackburn during the game. Blackburn received numerous death threats in the aftermath of the game. Sanders condemned the threats and asked fans to stop harassing Blackburn and his family. Hunter and Blackburn met up at a bowling alley for a YouTube video, teaming up to put the incident behind them and used the video to raise money for charity.
Through most of this week, both sides had tampered down the bad blood from a season ago, though Sanders was asked about a December social media post from Norvell’s wife Kim Norvell criticizing quarterback Shedeur Sanders’ conduct after the game.
“Shadeur (sic) acted like a B when Jay turned his back after trying to talk to his dad, and held up his watch,” she wrote.
Sanders said this week he met Norvell’s wife at a Big 12 event and she was “delightful.”
“I don’t judge people based off what they say when they’re emotional. I can’t do that, man. My heart ain’t built like that,” Sanders said. “When you show me who you are, I gotta believe you.”
Cameras from Sanders’ reality show on Amazon captured the postgame interaction.
Episode 3 of “Coach Prime” reveals the interaction between Coach Prime and Jay Norvell on the field after Norvell infamously said:
“When I talk to grownups, I take my hat and my glasses off. That’s what my mother taught me.” pic.twitter.com/3RRa4VeIgW
— RK (@RyanKoenigsberg) December 14, 2023
“The millions of followers and fans they produced and got and celebrities that jumped on their side because of who Deion Sanders is. End of the day Deion Sanders ain’t playing. It’s those players playing,” Horton said. “So those players better back up what they speak about.”
Norvell said this summer that Fowler-Nicolosi told him Kansas State offered him $600,000 to transfer there and that Texas A&M and Ole Miss tampered with Horton to convince him to transfer to their programs.
Colorado State (1-1) hosts Colorado (1-1) at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Required reading
(Top photo of Horton (right) and Shilo Sanders (left): Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)
