BOULDER — So how long does CU Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders wait to retire the number of quarterback Ryan Staub?

In the wake of the departures of Heisman winner Travis Hunter and internet sensation Shedeur Sanders to the NFL, Colorado needed a new football hero.

Well, it appears the Buffs might have found one in the most unlikely place.

He’s No. 16 in your program and No. 3 on the depth chart, but now No. 1 in the Buffs’ heart.

Staub came deep off the CU bench on Saturday to inject juice into a sputtering offense and lead the Buffaloes to a 31-7 victory against Delaware.

Those out-of-nowhere, off-script heroics inspired Sanders, an unrepentant sucker for a sappy sports tale, to admit: “I cried when I saw the movie ‘Rudy.’”

On a September afternoon when the Buffs treated Delaware like an exhibition game and planned to give two offensive series apiece to veteran transfer Kaidon Salter, ballyhooed freshman Julian Lewis and Staub, it was CU’s scout-team quarterback that not only took the opportunity, but put his stamp on it.

“Doesn’t really feel real,” Staub confessed.

Then pinch him. Dreams do come true.

He might not be Irish, but speaking of Rudy, does Staub know who began Notre Dame’s national championship season in 1977 as the Golden Domers’ third-string quarterback?

Some guy named Joe Montana.

This is not to suggest a similar Hollywood ending awaits Staub, but this is a story that simply isn’t supposed to be possible in the era of name, image and likeness, when the payroll can have a huge influence on the depth chart at quarterback.

“I don’t play on stars,” Sanders insisted, adding he doesn’t give “a durn” if a quarterback is hyped as a five-star recruit.

Months before Sanders packed his Louis Vuitton luggage and started the clock ticking on Prime time in Boulder, a Dumpster fire that was the CU football program tried to lure a three-star quarterback prospect out of California.

If I’m not mistaken, Staub was recruited by Mike Sanford, whose good deeds for the Buffs were rewarded with the dubious honor of serving as interim head coach and getting his fanny thumped by an average score of 45-17 after Karl Dorrell was fired in October 2022.

“This is true,” Sanford confirmed shortly after Staub entered the CU huddle with a scant 45 seconds remaining in the second quarter and the Buffs clinging to a slim 3-point lead against the vastly undermanned Blue Hens.

The appearance of Staub carried the unpleasant odor of frustration sprinkled with desperation, as Salter and Lewis had failed to run the undermanned Blue Hens out of Folsom Field.

So pardon my take, but might Sanford have a better eye for quarterback talent than Sanders does?

After getting his Rudy moment, Staub calmly completed three of five passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns in nine snaps on either side of halftime, when nobody would’ve been surprised if a QB3 freaked out and stumbled under the pressure of a make-or-break audition.

“He balled out so much,” Sanders said, “the whole student section was chanting his name.”

While this star turn by Staub might have come as a shock to the 50,341 spectators, his performance only reaffirmed what Sanford saw in an underrated recruit three years ago.

“The dude can play,” Sanford said.

But let’s keep it real.

Staub is only on the CU roster because he was humble enough to accept the fact nobody was going to displace the coach’s kid as starting quarterback so long as Shedeur Sanders was rolling through a blessed life in his $200,000 Maybach.

So why is Staub still in Colorado, when he could’ve looked for greener pastures and Sanders would’ve gladly helped him in the transfer process?

“I kept my head down in the dirt,” Staub said.

Well, here’s guessing nobody offered Staub a $200,000 car to bolt Boulder.

But that only makes this story a sweeter ride.

What does Sanders do at quarterback now?

“I know exactly how I’m going to handle the quarterback situation, but I’m not going to say it,” replied Coach Prime, playing coy. “I’m not lost for direction.”

While Sanders retired the No. 2 of his son after two seasons and 13 victories for the Buffs, it’s far from a guarantee Staub will become a CU legend.

But if the NIL and transfer portal still allows a starting quarterback to be named purely on merit, Staub has absolutely earned the right to lead the CU offense out on the road, where the Buffs have a Friday night date with Houston.

As TV cameras and the bright lights awaited Staub’s appearance at a postgame press conference, CU offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur turned to the assembled media and said: “Don’t let him get a big head.”

OK.

Hollywood will never film the story of his life. His name is Ryan, not Rudy.

But against all odds, Staub has a chance to rewrite the script of a football season that CU will never forget.