There’s a new deadline to monitor on the college football calendar: Week 5.

There are already multiple signing days during the year, recruiting dead periods, junior days and more. But another important period was thrown into the fire: the redshirt-decision week.

The rule of college football players being able to maintain a redshirt while playing in four or fewer games is not new, but it’s almost always been something that pertained to freshmen and players deciding whether to return from injury.

That was thrown out the window last week. It now applies to all players across the country.

The big story was UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka, who announced he was leaving the team to maintain his redshirt to play elsewhere this season.

Sluka’s agent has said the Holy Cross transfer, who helped lead the Rebels to a 3-0 start, has not received the $100K worth of NIL money that he was promised during the recruiting process.

UNLV and its NIL collective (Friends of UNILV) denied the claim, with the university saying Sluka and his representation recently made these financial demands in order to keep playing.

Regardless, Sluka is no longer with the team and the Rebels, who are coming off an appearance in the Mountain West championship and have legitimate hopes to be the Group of Five rep in the College Football Playoff, must move on without him.

While he’s drawn the headlines, Sluka is far from the only player making a similar decision. USC defensive lineman Bear Alexander, a former top recruit who transferred in from Georgia, is also reportedly leaving the Trojans and maintaining a redshirt in order to transfer again, where he will be immediately eligible at his next school thanks to the NCAA’s new rules.

Deion Sanders said last week he was talking about meetings the Colorado coaches were having with certain Buffaloes players about potentially redshirting. At first, it seemed like Coach Prime may have just been referring to young players who longed for more playing time. But he also mentioned wanting to get advice from coaching colleagues like UCF’s Gus Malzahn, who hosts CU on Saturday.

Perhaps Sanders knew something like UNLV’s situation could happen at CU.

Either way, it’s going to be the norm going forward.

With players free to transfer as many times as they please without sitting out for a season, this is only going to increase. Whether it’s for disputes over NIL compensation, playing time or something else, this is only the beginning.

While college football fans take sides and place blame on the players, coaches, universities and their NIL collectives, the real reason this will continue to be an issue is the NCAA itself. There are no overarching guidelines when it comes to NIL. It’s the wild, wild west.

As long as the NCAA can continue to sit back and cash checks, nothing will change.

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5 Games to Watch

No. 23 Kansas State vs. No. 20 Oklahoma State (10 a.m., ESPN)

Before the season, this was regarded as the Big 12 championship before the real conference title game. Now, both the Wildcats and Cowboys are coming off disappointing losses. K-State was blown out at BYU, while Oklahoma State lost at home to a Utah team with a true freshman backup quarterback. Both teams need this one, but only one can win at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

King’s pick: Oklahoma State +4.5

No. 16 Notre Dame vs. No. 15 Louisville (1:30 p.m., Peacock)

The Fighting Irish have bounced back from the shocking Week 2 loss at home to Northern Illinois with impressive, back-to-back wins over Purdue and Miami (Ohio). QB Riley Leonard seems to have found a rhythm and the Notre Dame defense hasn’t allowed more than 14 points in a game this season. This week will be a challenge, though, against a Louisville team that is starting to believe it can compete for an ACC title.

King’s pick: Notre Dame -6.5

UNLV vs. Fresno State (1:30 p.m., FS1)

This game was always going to be one to watch even before the drama in Las Vegas the last few days. While Boise State looks like a clear favorite in the Mountain West, UNLV and Fresno State figure to be the two teams fighting for the right to face the Broncos in the conference title game. Even without Sluka, don’t count out the Rebels, who still have talent at quarterback in former Campbell star Hajj-Malik Williams.

King’s pick: UNLV -1.5

No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 2 Georgia (5:30 p.m., ABC)

Midseason games don’t get bigger than this. It’s the highest-ranked September matchup in seven years and the first time this game won’t have Nick Saban on the sidelines since 2003. Jalen Milroe is off to a hot start, but the Crimson Tide need their QB to be at the top of his game against the most talented team in the country.

King’s pick: Georgia -2

No. 9 Penn State vs. No. 19 Illinois (5:30 p.m., NBC)

With a surprise win at Nebraska, Illinois is 4-0 for the first time since 2011 and just the second time since 1951. But this will be a tall task in Happy Valley in what is historically a tough place to win, especially at night. The Nittany Lions are coming off a blowout win over Kent State in which they had a staggering 718 yards on 81 plays.

King’s pick: Illinois +19

King’s YTD record ATS: 8-7 (3-2 last week)

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King’s Top 5 Heisman candidates

1. Travis Hunter, CB/WR, Colorado

We’re through the first four weeks. It’s time to solidify the top candidates for the Heisman Trophy and there’s no other place to start than Boulder. Even if the Buffs only get to 7 or 8 wins this season, Travis Hunter is far and away the best player in the country. Last week he extended his program-record streak of games with 100 receiving yards to five and forced the game-winning fumble in overtime.

2. Cam Ward, QB, Miami

After a slow start vs. South Florida, Ward finished with an easy 404 passing yards on 70.6% completions and three touchdowns. He’s the No. 1 reason the Hurricanes look like the best team in the ACC. Through four games, Ward is tops in the country in touchdown passes (14), second in passing yards (1,439) and 11th in completion percentage (72.4).

3. Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss

Dart’s stats are too big to ignore. Despite a weak schedule, the Ole Miss QB leads the country in passing yards, is second in completion percentage (79.8) and has just two interceptions to go with 12 touchdowns. The schedule remains favorable enough Dart can likely keep putting up similar numbers.

4. Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State

There’s currently only one qualifying running back in the country averaging over 10 yards per carry. It’s Jeanty. Through three games, the Broncos star is averaging just under 200 yards per game and has racked up nine touchdowns. Despite a handful of good running backs with an extra game under their belt, Jeanty is still second in both total rushing yards and touchdowns. He’s a one-man show in Idaho.

5. Kaleb Johnson, RB, Iowa

Surprise, surprise. There’s another great running back in Iowa City. After racing up over 200 yards and three touchdowns in Iowa’s road win over Minnesota, Johnson is the new leader in the clubhouse for rushing yards. He’s sure to get plenty of carries each week to continue to put up jaw-dropping stat lines.