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, have chosen a different path 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. “We owe them. We walked away from that game as we kind of ‘left it all on the field.’ 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 the top of the world, and this ain’t no Cinderella story. We’re coming for revenge.”

CU was ranked No. 18 in the Associated Press poll going into last year’s matchup, and the Buffs were heavy favorites against the Rams, who were 0-1 and had been routed by Washington State in their opener.

“Yeah they came out with that attitude and thought it was going to be a cakewalk,” Fowler-Nicolosi told CBS4. “They saw the reports, 27.5 points (spread) or whatever it was and they got a rude, rude awakening real quick. I think it goes to show that the hype, the media train, all that, it 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.”

That’s a shot, of course, at a CU program that has received loads of national attention since hiring Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders as head coach in December of 2022. CU has had a 783% increase in social media followers since hiring Coach Prime, gaining 2.11 million followers.

Despite being heavy favorites last year, CU needed a late rally to force overtime and then secured the win on Fowler-Nicolosi’s third interception of the night.

Fowler-Nicolosi and Horton played major roles in CSU nearly pulling off the upset last year. Fowler-Nicolosi threw for 367 yards and three touchdowns, while Horton caught 16 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown. Horton also threw a touchdown pass.

“We all came here to play football,” Horton said. “End of the day, the millions of followers and fans that they been produced and got, and celebrities that jumped on their side because of who Deion Sanders is, at the end of the day, Deion Sanders ain’t playing. It’s those players playing, so those players better back up on what they speak about.”

This year, both teams come in at 1-1. The Rams rolled past Northern Colorado, 38-17, on Saturday, while the Buffs were humbled at Nebraska with a 28-10 loss. The Buffs are seven-point favor- ites.

When asked about the rivalry this week, Sanders said, “Every week is a huge game for us.”

Buffs cornerback DJ McKinney said, “We’re just making sure we prepare, prepare, prepare. So when it’s time to play, be ready to play.”