Colorado coach Deion Sanders threw cold water on the idea that the Buffaloes’ game this week against Nebraska would be another “personal” contest. Instead, he praised Nebraska coach Matt Rhule ahead of the rival game.

“I have a lot of respect for Matt Rhule,” Sanders said. “He’s in — I call it our class of coaches. We all went through a great test last year, along with (Arizona State) Coach (Kenny) Dillingham and a couple of others. So I feel like we’re a brotherhood. So I’m cheering for that class of head coaches that came in that year.”

It’s a different approach than Sanders took last year before the game against Nebraska, when he proclaimed, “This is personal. That’s the message of the week: This is personal.”

Colorado won last year’s game in Boulder 36-14, after which quarterback Shedeur Sanders indicated he took issue with Rhule and several Nebraska players standing on the Buffaloes’ logo at midfield before the game.

Shedeur Sanders also said after the game that he felt Rhule had been disrespectful with his offseason comments about not wanting to be followed by cameras, a move that was allegedly a dig at Sanders and Colorado.

“Coach said a lot about my dad, about the program, but now that he wants to be nice — I don’t respect that because you hate another guy, you shouldn’t do that,” Shedeur Sanders said. “It was just, all the respect for them and their program was gone. I love playing against their DC, I love playing against them, but the respect level, it’s not there because you didn’t respect us before.”

After both teams suffered a losing season last season, the animosity seems to have diminished.

“(Rhule) was a professional, did a phenomenal job,” Coach Sanders said. “Maybe not the job he craved, but he has a lot of experience and I think what he’s accomplished in his college coaching career is great.”

Colorado won its season opener last week against North Dakota State 31-26. Nebraska opened with a 40-7 win against UTEP.