Cougar head coach Kalani Sitake reflected on the memories of traveling to Fort Collins as a player during Monday’s weekly press conference, and did so with generally fond feelings. It was a trip the Cougars took every other season back when they were conference rivals with the Rams back when both were members of not only the Mountain West Conference, but dating back to when both were affiliated with the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).

“Those games were always competitive, but I just remember I remember the the environment,” Sitake, who played fullback for the Cougars from 1997-2000. “I remember the the fans. I was really impressed with with the fans, and I kind of miss that. For me, it’s like when we went back to Wyoming and got to see the fans there, that was kind of a cool memory again. And so I’m looking forward to being in Fort Collins in that area.”

While Sitake and much of his staff became familiar with traveling to Fort Collins as players, it’s been since the 2010 season since BYU football played a game in Fort Collins. That game played in 2010 was a resounding 49-10 win for the Cougars — a result that would certainly seem more than acceptable this time around.

One player who is familiar with the area BYU will be traveling to this Saturday is starting right tackle Andrew Gentry, who grew up in the Denver area before moving on to play at Michigan prior to his transfer to BYU just prior to last season.

“It’s going to be fun to go back there playing in front of a home crowd,” Gentry said. “Last year playing up (against Colorado) was a lot of fun playing in Boulder. So, it’s a really cool experience to go back two years in a row to play in Colorado and have that hometown feel. We used to go up to team camp in high school up at CSU, so it’s going to be fun playing in a familiar place and playing in front of family and friends. So, I’m just excited and grateful I get to play in front of my family.”

Although Gentry grew up in Colorado, his allegiances were never aligned with either the Rams although he did hold some affection for the other program close by his home in Littleton, Colorado.

“I was a BYU fan growing up. So, I was locked in on BYU, so it was hard to cheer for CSU back in the Mountain West days when I was growing up,” he said. “You know, if anything, I would cheer for CU, right, just being that was the school that I would cheer for in Colorado. But I was always a BYU fan before anything else growing up.”

A couple of Matts

Colorado State has two coaches on staff with at leasts some familiarity with BYU football with Matt Mitchell, who served as the Cougar’s quarterbacks analyst from 2022-2025, obviously holding a great deal of knowledge, which could present a problem. Mitchell, who is the Ram’s passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach, helped develop current BYU starting quarterback Bear Bachmeier, and knows his tendencies, along with what BYU likes to do offensively as well as most anyone.

“He knows he knows our offense, and he worked closely with Bear, worked closely with our personnel, so he knows our team,” Sitake affirmed. “He he even knows what we have on our defensive side, so he’s been around us (and) he’s been around with us for many years. He knows what we’re doing and he knows what we’re doing.”

As far as how much of an advantage Mitchell’s overall knowledge of BYU’s systems will prove, Sitake believes it won’t necessarily be determined by anyone on the sidelines.

“It’s not really what the coaches know, it’s what the players know,” Sitake said. ” … I don’t think they’ve been sitting there memorizing our playbook the entire year, you know So, whatever they can get done in a week, good for them, and whatever we can do in our week is going to be beneficial, and what what we feel like we can take advantage of even (with) them knowing us.”

The other coach on Colorado State’s staff is former BYU linebacker Matt Ah You, who played for the Cougars for three seasons before moving on to the coaching ranks up to the point where he serves as the Ram’s current nickelbacks coach.