Brooks: Tuesday Tidbits

HOME FAREWELL FOR 15 SENIORS: Friday night's game at Folsom Field against USC marks the final home appearance for 15 Colorado football players. Senior Night, said CU coach Mike MacIntyre, is always "kind of a bittersweet type moment."

Coaches share that kind of sentiment because while they are proud to see players leave with degrees and enter life after a college sport, it's also difficult not to have those players in the locker room.

"Each one of them has their own unique story," MacIntyre said. "Each one of them has a unique story out of their families, there's a lot of pride there. Definitely Senior Night is big, but graduation in December and graduation in May is really even bigger."

College life and athletics, noted MacIntyre, usually accelerate as if a fast forward button has been pushed.

"You blink, you get there as a freshman and you think it's going to last forever," he said. "And by your sophomore year you think, 'When is this ever going to end?' And then you blink and you're out about three years, you wish you could go back. Exams aren't really that tough compared to real life."

CU's 15 seniors: OL Vincent Arvia, S Jered Bell, OL Ed Caldwell, CB Ken Crawley, FB John Finch, WR Colin Johnson, S Marques Mosley, FB Jordan Murphy, T Stephane Nembot, TB Christian Powell, LB Hunter Shaw, LS Wyatt Tucker Smith, NT Justin Solis, WR Nelson Spruce, DL John Paul Tuso.

HOME FINALE, PART DEUX: Also celebrating his final working game at Folsom Field will be long-time KOA Radio announcer Larry Zimmer, the Voice of The Buffs for the past 42 seasons.

Zimmer, who also will celebrate his 80th birthday on Friday, is retiring after the 2015 season and will be replaced next season by former CU coach Gary Barnett.

MacIntyre called Zimmer's final game at Folsom "extremely special for him and Brigitte (his wife) and all their family, and all of the CU fans for years-and-years (listening to Zimmer's voice), and then former players. When you turn on the radio next year, you won't hear his voice and that's going to be also tough.

"I think it's great to honor him and he deserves it. I'm really glad he's here, because this time last year, we weren't sure he was going to be here (due to a health scare). So I'm really excited that were here and able to honor him and that he's able to be honored."

Zimmer will be recognized between the first and second quarters on Friday night.

GOING A LONG WAY BACK: ESPN2's crew in the booth on Friday night will include former Texas coach Mack Brown. MacIntyre knows him well – mainly because his father, George, and Brown were well acquainted.

George MacIntyre is a former Vanderbilt head coach who had Brown's brother, Watson, on his staff in Nashville as the Commodores' offensive coordinator.

"I think the world of the Brown family and they think the world of my dad," MacIntyre said. "I know Coach Brown and he's always been really nice to me throughout my career, when I would see him on the road recruiting or at conventions."

MacIntyre recalled Mack Brown's early career stop at Appalachian State: "My brother and my dad went up there and spent some time with him . . . they've been really close and have talked a lot throughout the years."

BUFFS ARE HOPING FOR BRRRR: The last time USC visited Folsom Field – Nov. 23, 2013 – the Trojans were greeted by a temperature of 29 degrees at kickoff. It tied a USC record for the second-coldest football game.

CU safety Jered Bell, of Ontario, Calif., said by nature not many SoCal natives care for sub-freezing temps.

"It's a fact that no one from California likes the cold," Bell said. "If it's under 60 degrees we've got hoodies and sweaters on. I don't think it's going to be too cold this week and on (Friday)."

He's right – if the weather forecasters are right. Friday's high is supposed to be 53 degrees, with a low of 31 degrees. The temperature at kickoff (7 p.m.) will be somewhere in between, but that's still chilly for the Trojans.

Said MacIntyre: "I don't know what the weather is going to be. Do you ever know in Colorado what the weather is going to be? I imagine it will be a little colder being a night game of course."

MacIntyre's normal wardrobe routine: "I'll just show up and (director of football equipment) Tyler (Baltierras) will have the correct stuff for me in my locker to put on, no matter what the weather is."

Meanwhile, Bell said rather than focusing on the weather, the Buffs will try and focus on something they can control.

"No matter what the weather is we still have to go out there and play," he said. "The weather is not going to dictate the game. It's going to be us on defensive and offensive side of the ball that is going to dictate the game. We have to go out there, execute and do our jobs, and more importantly not shoot ourselves in the foot like we've been doing in previous games – and finish."

QUOTABLE: "Stephane Nembot's story, you won't ever have another story very similar to that. Ever. I mean his story is amazing . . ." MacIntyre on his starting right tackle, who was born in Douala, Cameroon and was new to almost everything American when he signed with CU in 2011

NOTABLE: Christian Powell had led the Buffs in rushing for three consecutive seasons. That's not likely to happen this season. The 6-foot, 235-pounder is second with 326 yards on 65 attempts, but in last weekend's 42-10 loss to Stanford he didn't have a carry. Powell has been utilized more as a blocker later. "We have him do different things in different games," MacIntyre said. "We've had different packages depending on what we thought was best to attack the opponent." . . . . MacIntyre has coached for 26 years but has never worked for an interim coach or been in an interim role like USC's Clay Helton, who succeeded Steve Sarkisian on Oct. 12. "I don't know how that is or how that works out," MacIntyre said. Helton is 4-1 as an interim coach, having worked in that capacity for USC in the 2013 Las Vegas Bowl and at Memphis when former head coach Tommie West was recovering from off-season heart surgery. MacIntyre said it was obvious that Helton "understands the organization of everything is a key." . . . . Friday's game marks the seventh night game for CU this season. The Buffs' eighth after-dark contest will be on Nov. 21 at Washington State (8:45 p.m. MST kickoff). CU's previous high for night football games was six (2008 and 2009), and in its first four seasons in the Pac-12 the school played only 10 total night games . . . . USC is 9-0 all-time against CU and has outscored the Buffs 333-104 in those nine wins . . . . Neither CU nor USC has played a football game on Friday the 13th. It's a Blackout Game for the Buffs . . . . The Trojans, riding a three-game winning streak, are a sliver outside the AP Top 25, coming in this week at No. 26 among "others receiving votes."

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU