It’s only Week 2 of the college season, but boy, are coaches, players and even former coaches talking big.

For Colorado, who plays in the Big 12, the Buffaloes started 2018 with a 45-13 win over Colorado State. No big deal. But in Week 2, Colorado plays a familiar foe: Nebraska.

The Cornhuskers played in the Big 12 before switching to the Big Ten. And in the 1980s, who was Colorado’s biggest rival? Nebraska. The Buffaloes’ coach at the time, Bill McCartney, made that known on Tuesday during Colorado’s weekly presser.

McCartney was brought to talk to the media as a “special guest.”

“I’d rather be dead than red,” McCartney said. “Seriously, here’s what you’ve got to understand about Nebraska. Here, we’ve got CU, (Colorado State), Air Force and the Broncos. You know what they got? Nothing! Just that team that’s coming. There’s nothing else for them to do. When they get up every day, that’s the only option they have, is to get behind that Big Red thing.

“We’ve got to beat ‘em. That’s the only thing they understand. Now they understand that. If you beat ‘em, they’ll salute. If you don’t, you will hear about it. We don’t want to hear about it, especially from their media. Because they won’t stop.

“Kids between the ages of 18 and 22, you’ve got to give them targets to shoot at. You can’t just give them a big picture. You’ve got to say ‘we’re going to put it all together, we’re going to keep getting better and better and when we go to Lincoln, trust me, we are going to hit them in the mouth until we take over the place. And when we shut ‘em all up, then we’ll leave.’ You have to project things like that.”

Those are some serious words. And for Colorado, it’s understandable. McCartney wanted to make the Buffaloes’ rivalry known. He did while he coached there.

But, things have changed. Nebraska moved on to a new conference and new coaches are obviously in place at both programs.

It’s 2018, but when the fans see their school line up against the other on Saturday, they will be ready to roll. As will the players.