It’s been a little while since Jimmy Horn Jr. had a Jimmy Horn Jr. type of game. Colorado head coach Deion Sanders certainly isn’t worried about the senior receiver, though.

Horn had a monster season opener, catching seven passes for 198 yards and a touchdown in CU’s 31-26 win against North Dakota State on Aug. 29. In six games since, he’s caught 21 passes for a combined 158 yards and no touchdowns. Last week at Arizona, he caught just two passes for nine yards.

Yet, as CU (5-2, 3-1 Big 12) gets set to host Cincinnati (5-2, 3-1) on Saturday at Folsom Field (8:15 p.m., ESPN), Sanders said Horn’s impact goes beyond the stats.

“Everybody, including (pro) scouts, know the value of Jimmy Horn,” Sanders said. “Just because he’s not receiving 10 balls at a time, that does not mean he’s not valuable.”

Sanders said a lot of shorter passes the Buffs are completing are “because Jimmy just cleaned out the house running the (deep route) right up the seam, to make it available for all the other guys. So Jimmy’s doing a lot of the grunt work.”

CU’s also had some plays that were designed for Horn but weren’t executed properly.

“I promise you, he’s in every game plan,” Sanders said. “We want to get him the ball.”

Sanders called Horn a “professional football player just playing at the collegiate level for this moment,” and added that he thinks Horn has explosive ability as a returner. The Buffs have started using Horn as a punt returner, and he’s averaging 12.8 yards on five returns. He’s also averaging 33.0 yards on three kickoff returns.

“Jimmy is phenomenal,” Sanders said. “I love everything about him. Love who he is as a man: not drinking, not smoking. He don’t party or club much. I mean, he’s a good kid, and I love him to life, and I’m going to make sure he gets to the next level.”

Horn, who played two seasons at South Florida before coming to CU in 2023, has caught 153 passes for 1,875 yards and 11 touchdowns in his career. Dating back to 2022, he has caught at least one pass in 27 consecutive games.

Steady Cokes>> Senior defensive lineman Shane Cokes continues to be “consistent” for the Buffs, Coach Prime said. Cokes has posted 16 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack while starting every game.

“Shane is going to watch probably the most film of any defensive lineman,” Sanders said. “Shane is going to be where he’s supposed to be. He’s going to do what he’s supposed to do. He kind of corrals all the guys up front and makes sure they’re doing the necessary things they need to do for us to be successful. He is who he is.”

Coach Prime does have one complaint about Cokes, however. In two seasons with the Buffs, Cokes has been penalized just once, and that came more than a year ago, during a Week 3 win against Colorado State in 2023.

“What I wish, I want him to be a little more relentless, a little more selfish,” Coach Prime said. “A little more, just, go get it and just leave everything you got out there on the field. Not that he’s not, but I just want him to get a little nastier, you know? Go get me a penalty every now and then. Everybody else is, he might as well join them.”

Notable>> Cincinnati is the only team in the Big 12 that had a player on both the offensive and defensive lines earn preseason All-Big 12 honors. Right guard Luke Kandra and defensive lineman Dontay Corleone were both honored. … Saturday’s game will be the seventh consecutive game for CU in a sold-out stadium. That’s the second-longest streak in program history, behind the 10-game streak a year ago. … Horn played against Cincinnati twice while at USF. He caught five passes for 108 yards and a touchdown against the Bearcats in 2021, but was held to one catch for two yards in their 2022 matchup.