BOULDER – For the first time, the CU Buffs look Primed and ready to make noise on the football field louder than the hype machine stoked 24/7 by their celebrity coach.

But can Deion Sanders handle the heat should they stumble and fall?

With the opening kickoff of this CU season rapidly approaching, everybody from legendary Alabama coach Nick Saban to Buffs punter Mark Vassett eagerly anticipates the Buffs winning with impressive regularity.

I agree. Put me down as a true believer quarterback Shedeur Sanders and these Buffs will make noise in the Big 12 Conference, going no worse than 8-4, which would be a nifty victory total Colorado has only matched or surpassed twice since 2004.

Can the great football wasteland of Boulder be transformed into Prime pigskin country? Like many intense competitors, as much as Sanders enjoys proving doubters wrong, he relishes rubbing their noses in his triumphs.

It seems to me that instead of ignoring the outside noise, Neon Deion not only feeds off the noise, but actively pumps it up.

“I’ve never read an article or comment that … I’m going to go hard because of it,” coach Sanders said Saturday. “It doesn’t propel me. Where I come from propels me. How I grew up propels me. Being an African-American, one of the few that’s a head coach in college football, that kind of stuff propels me.”

Along the way to the greatness coach Sanders vows is ahead, if the CU quarterback throws a costly pick-6, the head coach blows a victory with bad clock management or a ballyhooed recruit wants out of Boulder, if I ask about any of that and Prime regards it as negative, will he bury me under a cone of silence, banning me from asking questions so he doesn’t have to hear criticism?

“You’re taking the approach I’m going to be negative. I’m not negative to anybody (in the media). I will challenge you and ask why or where this is coming from,” said Sanders, dismissing any suggestion he might hold a grudge. “I’m not built like that. I’m not built to hate. I’m not a hateful guy. I come with love … I don’t come with the bull junk. I come with the peace and the joy.”

OK, fair enough.

So why did I feel compelled to ask?

In any game, we all need to know the ground rules.

During the course of a little more than 20 months, the University of Colorado football program has been transformed into the Court of His Royal Primeness, where doubters are called out as haters and a naysayer can be muzzled, because it’s right there, in Sanders’ contract.

Sean Keeler, a columnist who used to be a colleague before I departed The Denver Post earlier this year for a better place, has been informed Coach Prime will not give him the time of day, much less a chance to ask him or anybody involved in the CU football program a question about X’s and O’s or anything else.

The Buffs said the punishment is merited because Keeler has called Sanders a “false prophet” and “Bruce Lee of B.S.” There is language in Sanders’ contract that requires him to speak only with mutually agreed upon media members, according to The Post.

I’m not certain how prosecuting his grievances helps Coach Prime beat North Dakota State or Nebraska. But if he feels persecuted by haters, may God grant him serenity.

“I don’t know about persecuted. This is a way of life for me,” Sanders said. “You guys act like this is the first time I’ve been shot at, I’ve been lied on, cheated, talked about, mistreated. That’s a gospel song, ain’t it?”

How Sanders has approached criticism at CU reminds me of the old three letters approach to crisis management.

Immediately after a football coach moves into his office at a new gig with a downtrodden program, he stuffs three letters in a desk drawer.

At the first sign of trouble (like a long losing streak), open the first letter and follow the carefully worded instructions: Blame the mess left by the previous coach (particularly if the offensive line can’t protect your son the quarterback).

During the second instance of intense scrutiny, open Letter No. 2 and follow this time-honored tradition: Blame the media for negativity that’s poison to a winning culture.

And the third time you feel intense heat as a coach? Well maybe it’s time to write three letters for the next sucker stuck with this no-win gig. It becomes a more appealing option by embracing the laudable ideal of more quality family time, perhaps allowing for weekend travel to watch your son play quarterback in the NFL on Sundays in the fall.

Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that for Sanders.

They don’t call me Mr. Sunshine for nothing.

So here’s hoping that in December, I’m still welcome to ask Coach Prime how his Buffs are going to fare in the college football playoff.

“I hope so, too,” Sanders told me. “I pray so.”

Amen, brother.