It's only Week 3, but Saturday's game against the Colorado State Rams feels like a must-win for head coach Deion Sanders' Colorado football team. Last week's showing at Nebraska was brutal and the Buffs' offensive line, in particular, needs to perform better in Fort Collins.

Ahead of this weekend's Rocky Mountain Showdown, Coach Prime, cornerback DJ McKinney, defensive lineman BJ Green II, linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green and linebackers coach Andre' Hart spoke with local media members about Colorado's approach to rival Colorado State. We also heard from third-year CSU head coach Jay Norvell on Monday.

Check out what Coach Prime and the Buffs are saying about Saturday's battle with the Rams:

Challenges of scouting Colorado State

"They're consistent with the plays they run and they're consistent with the personnel changes that they have," Coach Prime said. "They're consistent with some of the things they do. So you scout the consistency in what they run."

Reponse to Jay Norvell doubting Colorado's improvements

"I know that the wonderful gentleman that coaches them (Jay Norvell) said we look a lot like the same team as last season," Coach Prime said. "I'm not going to say that about them. I'm going to say they're doing some wonderful things, and we just gotta stop them in all phases."

On the rivalry

"All these kids have social media handles and I'm pretty sure they know," Coach Prime said. "They knew what time it was when they came here. It was explained by the players we retained from last season about how important these rivalry games are. But honestly, to tell you the truth, these games are truly important but every game is a huge game for us."

On preparing for another rivalry game on the road

"The benefit is you have to get up," Coach Prime said. "Prayerfully, you learn your lesson from a week ago and you have to get up. You have to come out ready to play. From the first snap on, you have to be ready to play at all positions in all phases, coaches included."

On getting the run game going

"The game dictates certain things you must do," Coach Prime said. "I think you guys see that. We all know those third-and-short, fourth-and-short, we try to do that. We try to run the football. It's an attitude. It's a straight attitude. You got to whoop your guy on that particular play. I think we've committed to it on certain plays."

On Colorado's offensive line

"I feel like we have the right guys," Coach Prime said. "You may see us shake something up a little bit. Phil Loadholt is a wonderful offensive line coach. Coach Pat (Shurmur) did a tremendous job in calling plays, as he did the first game. You just can't take a snapshot of one game and not understand the first game where we had over 500 yard of offense."

On the drama with Jay Norvell's family

DJ McKinney on dealing with CSU star wide receiver Tory Horton

"We will be prepared," McKinney said. "That's the main thing, our preparation has to be better."

BJ Green II on handling the spotlight

“Football is football," Green said. "We just gotta execute like we know how to execute. It’s just little things we have to work on. The lights really don’t affect us. We just have to do what we need to do."

BJ Green II on the current message from CU's coaching staff

"Start the first half like how we played that second half," Green said. "We have to come out fast. It shouldn't take getting punched in the mouth for us to come out and execute the calls."

Praise for CSU's speed

No confidence lost

This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: Deion Sanders, Colorado players talk approach to critical game vs. CSU