DENVER -- Six months ago, the Colorado Buffaloes were content for Sefo Liufau to take his time recovering from left foot surgery because Texas Tech transfer Davis Webb was insisting hed be wearing the black and gold this fall.Then, Webb spurned the Buffaloes for the Cal Bears.Suddenly, Liufaus determination to make a lightning-quick recovery from a Lisfranc injury was a blessing for the Buffs, who open their season Friday night against Colorado State at soon-to-be-renamed Sports Authority Field at Mile High.Its a small miracle that hes back, maybe a big miracle for as many Lisfrancs you read about and that Ive been around, Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre said. ... Sefo never really went home. He stayed and was here every day. He would pay his own money to fly to Portland to work with his own passing coach to help keep everything going while he was down. Its helped his velocity on the ball and his accuracy. Hes worked tirelessly.Im excited hes back. Hes looked good in practice. Im looking forward to him having the year that hes earned.Liufaus dogged determination to make it back for his senior season has rubbed off on his teammates, too.They see that heightened intensity, MacIntyre said. When they see other people overcome things with the work ethic and the time they have to put into it, they understand it. If you know your friends hopes and dreams, and you can help him reach them, then youre going to do a little more to reach his hopes and dreams. Thats what I see that Sefo has done with this team.Other things to watch in the Rocky Mountain Showdown:WHOS THE QB?: Colorado State coach Mike Bobo isnt saying who will be under center for the Rams: Georgia transfer Faton Bauta, incumbent Nick Stevens or even freshman Colin Hill. Bobo said the advantage is that all three prepare as though theyre the starter. Plus, Colorados coaches cant hone in on just one.I might gain an extra hour on (Buffs defensive coordinator) Jim Leavitt trying to find tape on Faton Bauta or Jim Leavitt watching the high school film to see what kind of player Collin Hill was in high school, Bobo said. Was he a guy who ran or was he drop-back guy? To find out arm strength. Is he an intermediate passer? Can he stretch the ball down field? I would think they are going to watch a little bit more tape. You better have a plan for your guys. Thats the reason.RIVAL RAMS: Buffaloes linebacker Jimmy Gilbert isnt sure this is such a rivalry: Yes and no. The reason I say no is because we go week-by-week so every week is a rivalry week for us, he said. We try to give each opponent we have respect, and if you treat your opponent with respect youll learn about your opponent.The Rams have a similar philosophy but Bobo doesnt buy the notion that its just another game to the Buffs.I heard they really didnt care about playing us too much last year, Bobo said. They really acted like they cared when they won the game. ... Its one game of 12. But you arent naive enough not to say that its an important game.NOW OR NEVER: MacIntyres future in Boulder probably hinges on Colorado earning its first bowl bid since 2007, and right now hes talking up his teams chances this season.I really like this football team; Ive said it a lot. I get excited when I talk about this football team. This is by far the most talent and the best football weve had in the four years Ive been here, MacIntyre said. Now weve got to go do it on Saturdays, and Friday nights and Thursday nights.YOUNG AND RESTLESS: Bobo says the Buffs have the age advantage: They have a lot of returning players. Theyve got some experience, a lot of senior leadership and they want to make a mark and have a successful season, he said.Said MacIntyre: Ive been hearing about how young CSU is, but they have 16 seniors on the two-deep and we have 16 seniors. We have six freshmen in our two-deep and they have four freshman in their two-deep. Im not buying that they arent a good football team; theyre a really good football team. Their offensive line kicked our butt last year; (Dalyn) Dawkins ran all over us.NEW RECEIVERS: Last years game featured two of the nations best receivers in CUs Nelson Spruce, now with the Los Angeles Rams, and CSUs Rashard Higgins, now with the Cleveland Browns.So, its time for new receivers to come out of their shadows.The Rams are relying on Xavier Williams, Elroy Masters Jr. and Sammie Long IV to step up. The Buffs are looking to Devin Ross, Shay Fields and Bryce Bobo to make up for Spruces departure.---AP college football site: http://collegefootball.ap.orgKyle Garlick Jersey . The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. Don Sutton Dodgers Jersey . P.A. Parenteau scored early in the third period to help the Avs edge Toronto 2-1 on Tuesday night. Cory Sarich also scored for Colorado (3-0-0), which is off to its best ever start. https://www.cheapdodgersonline.com/2275h-andre-ethier-jersey-dodgers.html . Bryant, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract as a free agent with Cleveland in March, reported symptoms on Monday morning, a team spokesman said. J. T. Chargois Dodgers Jersey . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. Eddie Murray Dodgers Jersey . Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on the indoor hard-court at Belgrade Arena. The victory improved the Czech pairs impressive cup doubles record to 14-1.Lewis Hamilton is willing to do whatever it takes to avoid another engine failure this season, including skipping practice sessions.The defending champions title chances took a big hit on Sunday when he retired from the lead of the Malaysian Grand Prix with an engine failure. It was Hamiltons third major engine problem of the season and leaves him with one new engine and one three-race old engine to complete the remaining five races.Once his Mercedes team fully understands the issue, Hamilton says he is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure another failure does not cost him more points in his battle with Nico Rosberg.I need to understand why these keep happening because weve got 43 engines, he said. Theres eight Mercedes cars out there, powered by the same engine as mine, and mine happens to fail. For Mercedes Im the number one driver, so for sure when these things happen I want to understand what that is and how they are going to go about making sure that does not happen again.Right now my concern is that Ive got these two engines and I want to make sure they can treat them with whatever they can to make sure they last. If that means not doing a session, I will not do a session. If thats what Ive got to do, because Ill do whatever it takes to see through the race.But team boss Totto Wolff said that was an unlikely situation.dddddddddddde have two engines left, one that has run three races and one that is brand new. We will leave no stone unturned to check them for the next races. Having said that, it is already the way we do things, that we are forensic in our approach and how we check all the bits. Whatever needs to be done to look at that specific failure today will be done.But missing a practice session is harming his weekend overall, so we would want to come to the race and have a more reliable situation.Hamilton has previously talked about deriving strength from the problems he has faced, but he admits the most recent setbacks have come with no real positives.I think theres times where you are growing through experiences but at some point theres a point of diminishing returns in terms of growth and getting through all these experiences, he added. Im pretty strong already.But we do learn, the guys will take the engine back and theyll learn from it, theyll understand why. Every time weve had engine issues, theyve gone away and found out why and that puts us in potentially a better position to make sure it doesnt happen next year. ' ' '
