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Colorado State Coach Jay Norvell attempted to cushion his apparent dig at Colorado Coach Deion Sanders from earlier this week late Friday night, affirming that he was, as ESPN “College GameDay” host Rece Davis put it in a video Norvell posted to social media, trying to “talk to his players” through the media rather than “take a shot” at Sanders.

The Rams’ second-year coach posted the clip of Davis, who was asked Friday about Norvell’s decision to “make things personal with Coach Prime,” in advance of Saturday night’s game in Boulder between Colorado State and Sanders’s red-hot Colorado.

With all the media involved with this game, not one reporter asked me about my comments. One guy got it. I wanted to send a message to our players and how we run our program.#RamGrit🐏 https://t.co/6eVUpnE4tk

“I didn’t take it that way,” Davis says in the video. “When you’re talking to the media at a news conference as a head coach, you’re either talking to the media, you’re talking to your fans, or you’re talking to your players. Jay Norvell, who I know, was not talking to anyone at Colorado. I know he said he didn’t care if they heard it in Boulder. Who do you think he was talking to? His players. He’s talking to his players, who are not afraid, who are going in there, who are not intimidated by all the attention they get or by the force of his personality or by the talent of Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders, who are not intimidated by any of that.

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“Now, absolutely Colorado should respond the way they did, use it and all that stuff. That’s part of the game. But I didn’t think for a second … that’s not really in [Norvell’s] wheelhouse. He’s talking to his players. He wasn’t trying to take a shot.”

Deion Sanders blasts Colorado State coach’s ‘bull junk’ pregame comments

On Wednesday, during the coach’s weekly show, Norvell took a not-so-subtle shot at Sanders’s attire while referencing conversations with the “GameDay” crew. Norvell, who prefaced his statement with “I don’t care if they hear it in Boulder,” said: “I told [the crew] — I took my hat off, and I took my glasses off — and I said, ‘When I talk to grown-ups, I take my hat and my glasses off. That’s what my mother taught me.’ ”

Sanders accepted the Colorado job in December, and he and the No. 18 Buffaloes, who have lit up college football en route to a 2-0 start, have thrived on Norvell’s commentary.

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As Sanders addressed his team Thursday, the Buffaloes parroted his call that the Rams’ coach had made the matchup “personal.”

“It was just gonna be a good game, but they done messed around and made it PERSONAL” 😳

“Why would you talk about us, when we don’t talk about nobody”

Deion Sanders responds to comments made from Coach Norvell and things are getting heated 👀 pic.twitter.com/U9Em4bPiJ5

On Saturday’s edition of “Big Noon Kickoff” on Fox, Sanders reiterated the call-and-response with Colorado’s fan base, which answered every question of his with “personal.” Sanders also poked fun at the issue, illustrating that he would take his hat and sunglasses off during the postgame handshake.

“What is it today? (Personal.) It’s what? (Personal.) He talked about my mama, so it’s what? (Personal.) He naysaying, so it’s what? (Personal.) He thought I was tripping so it’s what? (Personal.) And after the game, it’s going to be what? (Personal.)”

On Sanders’s radio show Thursday, the Hall of Fame cornerback and former Jackson State coach was asked about Norvell’s comments.

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“I’m a grown man,” replied Sanders, who was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses. “Don’t tell me what I’m supposed to wear and what I [am not] supposed to wear. Please.”

In a clip that surfaced Friday, Sanders unveiled a new sunglasses line in partnership with Blenders Eyewear and gifted pairs to his players. During his appearance on ESPN’s “First Take,” he gifted more pairs to the show’s panel.

After Colorado State HC Jay Norvell criticized him this week for always wearing his sunglasses, Colorado HC Deion Sanders gifted sunglasses to his entire team. pic.twitter.com/mmx49x5PIj

On the “Rich Eisen Show” Friday, Sanders said, “Wait until you see the pregame and all that — you have no idea how we high-stepping with this one.”

Norvell, who took over the Rams in 2022 after five years at Nevada and is 0-1 this season, had complimented Sanders at a news conference Monday, telling reporters he was not a critic of the Buffaloes’ first-year coach.

“I really respect all head coaches and the sacrifices they’ve had to make to become head coaches,” Norvell said, “and I appreciate the path they have to go through to get there — especially African American coaches. So I was happy to see Deion get his opportunity. I had to wait a long time to get mine.”

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