FORT COLLINS • Jay Norvell was wrong about one thing.

While the Colorado State coach claimed at the beginning of the week that this year’s Colorado team doesn’t look a whole lot different from Deion Sanders’ first season, the Buffaloes’ defense certainly took that statement to heart.

The CU defense that took the field at Canvas Stadium on Saturday night couldn’t have looked much different from the one that allowed nearly 500 yards in last year’s Rocky Mountain Showdown.

In the 28-9 thrashing of the rival Rams, it was the Buffs defense that set the tone — and made some of the game’s biggest plays — from start to finish.

“The goal was to come out there and get a stop,” Coach Prime said. “We want to go three and out. The defense picked up right where it left off in the second half of last week’s game.”

That’s exactly what the CU defense did to start the game.

Outside of a couple of big runs for CSU, the CU defense was in complete control, owning the line of scrimmage and pressuring Rams quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi until he made a mistake — and he made a few of them.

The first was a head-scratcher: An ill-advised throw across his body from his own end zone, and his pass found the hands of CU cornerback Preston Hodge. The Buffs essentially put the game to bed two plays later.

“We finally got some sacks, we finally got some turnovers,” Sanders said.

On the ensuing Rams possession, they looked primed to find the end zone for the first time, but Keegan Holles had the ball stripped out of his arms by veteran CU linebacker LaVonta Bentley and recovered by the Buffs.

Bentley fought through an injury during practice this week and took it upon himself to get defensive tackle Anquin Barnes ready, knowing Barnes would be asked to play a bigger role with Chidozie Nwankwo out with an injury.

“LaVonta Bentley, first and foremost, has been one of our key players on our defense,” Sanders said. “He is football, man. … I’m proud of him.”

Of course, Travis Hunter, the biggest star of the night, had to get in on the action, as well.

With CSU facing a fourth down near midfield, Fowler-Nicolosi was forced to throw a ball into traffic and Hunter, who was draped all over a Rams wide receiver, came up with his first interception of the season.

“Coach told us we got to get some turnovers,” Hunter said.

After the disappointing loss, Coach Prime fixated on the second-half shutout the defense pitched last week. His unit more than backed it up a week later.

All told, they allowed less than 350 yards of offense, forced four turnovers, and had two sacks and six tackles for loss. Not a bad day at the office — but they want more next week.

“We’ve got some guys that are pretty good defensively,” Sanders said. “They want it. No one is satisfied with their performance. These guys work their butts off.”