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Sean Payton stopped the question cold. In November 2023, the Broncos had won five straight and just polished off a bully-ball win against Cleveland to get above .500 for the first time all season. At 6-5, they had legitimate playoff aspirations. Quarterback Russell Wilson had 17 touchdowns and no picks in the red zone. When a question about that performance came the coach’s way, he did not let it stand. “Let’s back up a second,” Payton said then.

Russell Westbrook was Christian Braun’s kind of player. “Downhill,” he says now. “Athletic. Tough. Mean. In-your-face.” Westbrook was a young star in Oklahoma City, leading the Thunder to the NBA Finals. Braun was an aspiring hooper in the Kansas City suburbs, less than five hours away. How aspiring, exactly? “Uh, I would’ve been young,” he said in July, as if calculating his exact age would cause him to blush. Eleven.

Colorado (1-1) at Colorado State (1-1) When/where: 5:30 p.m. Saturday/Canvas Stadium TV/Radio: CBS/850 AM, Rams Radio Network BetMGM Line: Colorado -7, 57.5 over/under Weather: 90 degrees and clear at kickoff Series History: 68-22-2 in favor of CU; six-game win streak for Buffs Three storylines for CU Another Get-Even Game: After the shellacking at the hands of the Huskers in Lincoln, will the Buffs be ready for another rival who wants payback for a loss last year?

Chase Wilson has plenty of great long-term memories about the Rocky Mountain Showdown growing up in Arvada, where he and his family made a tradition of gathering around the TV to watch CSU versus CU. His short-term memory of the game, which his Rams lost in double OT last year? Not as lovely. “I always remember turning it on in the living room with my family, and my mom would be making dinner or some sort of Saturday lunch, and it was a big event in our house,” CSU’s redshirt senior middle linebacker said. “… (But in terms of last season), the accumulation of CU’s whole last scoring drive (to force overtime) is what stuck with me.

Bo Nix earned the right to start. And it won’t be long before coach Sean Payton is forced to defend his decision. Hear me out. Six quarterbacks were drafted in the first round last spring. Nix was the last. Three started on opening weekend. You know how many will face four straight head coaches who were former defensive coordinators?

BOULDER,CO SEPTEMBER 16: Colorado’s Shilo Sanders scores on an interception return against Colorado State’s Tory Horton during the game in Boulder on September 16, 2023.(Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer) Leading up to the latest edition of the Rocky Mountain Showdown, the Colorado Buffaloes have kept the peace, publicly avoiding any bulletin board material for their opponents. Two of the Colorado State Rams’ biggest stars, however, chose a different path weeks ahead of Saturday’s matchup in Fort Collins (5:30 p.m., CBS). Nearly a full year after CU’s 43-35 double overtime win against the Rams at Folsom Field, which included some rivalry-level trash talking and chippy play on the field, CSU quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi and receiver Tory Horton haven’t forgotten that night. During an interview, which took place during the preseason, with CBS4 in Denver, Horton said revenge has been on the Rams’ minds. “We owe them one and that’s just something that’s been sitting on everybody’s minds since we came back from break,” Horton said.