Photo: Dustin Bradford
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders said his upcoming opponent "made it personal" with comments about him ahead of Saturday's (September 14) game.
A video shared online by his son, Deion Sanders Jr., shows Sanders speaking to his team and addressing comments made by Colorado State head coach Jay Norvell in which Norvell seemed to criticize the Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback's flashy demeanor.
"I'm minding my own business, watching some film, getting ready; trying to get out here and be the best coach that I can be. And I look up and read some bull-junk that they done said about us," Sanders said. "Once again, why would you want to talk about us, when we don't talk about nobody? All we do is go out here and work our butts off and do our job on Saturdays. But when they give is ammunition, they've done messed around and made it what?"
"Personal," the players responded.
"It was just going to be a good game. They done messed around and made it what?" Sanders added, which was met with another "personal" response from the team.
Norvell had previously addressed media appearances during his weekly radio show Wednesday (September 13) night and said his team was "tired" of the hype surrounding the upcoming game before making an obvious comparison to the Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback turned head coach.
"I don't care if they hear this in Boulder. I told them [ESPN] -- I took my hat off, and I took my glasses off. I said, 'When I talk to grown-ups, I take my hat and my glasses off. That's what my mother taught me,'" Novell said, referencing Sanders' flashy demeanor.
The comments were met with applause from the live audience, as well as approval from the show's host, Colorado State radio play-by-play man Brian Roth. Norvell had initially said he didn't "really want to talk about" Sanders "right now," but opened up about the media attention the game was generating, which includes ESPN's College GameDay and FOX's Big Noon Kickoff -- which will be in Boulder for the third consecutive week -- airing their traveling live shows from the campus on Saturday.
"It was great. I loved it," Norvell said of the extra attention the team has received. "But our kids came out of those [interviews] really with a chip on their shoulder. They're tired of all that stuff. They really are tired of it.
"[Colorado's] not gonna like us no matter what we say or do. It doesn't matter. So, let's go up there and play. That's just how I feel about it."
Sanders, who had previously coached Jackson State, a historically Black college, from 2020 to 2022, has already led the Buffaloes -- currently a 23-point favorite for Saturday's game -- to a drastic improvement two games into his tenure. Colorado, which went 1-11 (1-8 Pac-12) in 2022 prior to Sanders' hiring, upset College Football Playoff National Champion runner-up TCU, 45-42, in Week 1 and routed Nebraska, 36-14, in Week 2, going from a preseason unranked team to the No. 18 team in college football entering Week 3.
Saturday's game will air live on ESPN at 10:00 p.m. ET.
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