When BYU walks into Folsom Field on Saturday night, revenge will be on the minds of all Colorado fans in attendance. Revenge for last season's humiliating Alamo Bowl defeat, where BYU physically manhandled Colorado on the way to a 36-14 victory.
Revenge may be at the forefront for fans, but it's not a motivator for Deion Sanders or his team, at least according to what he's saying publicly.
"We ain't with that get-back stuff," Sanders said. "I ain't with that get-back stuff. I'm with that let's-get-them stuff. They played their butts off, kicked our butts in the bowl game. Now we have a whole new team."
This is certainly a whole new Colorado football team. The Buffs lost program stalwarts Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, have a rebuilt offensive line around Jordan Seaton, a whole new crop of wide receivers, and significant personnel changes on each level of the defense.
But coaches find motivation everywhere they can. While Coach Prime might say publicly that getting a "get back" against BYU doesn't serve to motivate him or his team, you can bet he's singing a different tune at practice this week and will say differently in the locker room when he addresses the team before kickoff.
Get back or not, Colorado really needs a win over BYU to kick off brutal slate of Big 12 games
Saturday night's matchup with BYU will kick off three consecutive games for Colorado against teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25. No. 25 BYU is in Boulder this week, the Buffs travel to No. 24 TCU next week, and then welcome No. 14 Iowa State to Folsom the following week before their first bye of the season.
It's a pivotal stretch for Colorado, which enters this weekend at 2-2 and 0-1 in the Big 12. If the Buffs can win two of the three, it will set them on a path that should, in the very least, have them in good shape for bowl eligibility.
Dropping two of the three - or, God forbid, all of them - would make it increasingly more difficult for Colorado to get to six wins this year. They still have road games left at Utah, West Virginia, and Kansas State, with Arizona and Arizona State coming to Boulder.
Colorado is currently a 6.5-point home underdog against BYU, per FanDuel. The oddsmakers don't give the Buffs much of a chance to pull out the win.
But Colorado found something offensively last week with Kaidon Salter. He was more decisive in his decision-making, which is what the coaching staff wanted out of him. But the staff also put him in a better position to succeed by tailoring the offense more to his skill set.
BYU will be a much tougher test, and determine whether last week was fool's gold or a sign of things to come for the offense.