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BOULDER, Colorado — Saturday isn't necessarily a must-win game for either Colorado or Arizona, but a victory could change the outlook of the entire season. So could a loss.

Following a bye week and back-to-back losses to No. 18 BYU and Houston, Arizona (4-3) enters Saturday with another chance to inch towards bowl eligibility in Year 2 under head coach Brent Brennan after getting off to its best start since 2019. 

Meanwhile, Colorado (3-5) is coming off a 46-point whooping from Utah last week and is two losses away from failing to make the postseason in its third season under head coach Deion Sanders.

"It doesn't matter what happened this (past) weekend, what matters is what happens next weekend, and that's all we're worried about," said Arizona head coach Brent Brennan. 

This week, "these young men have responded tremendously, and I’m proud of them that they’re putting it aside and saying, 'You know, we’re better than this,'" Sanders said. "We gotta focus and we gotta lock in.�

Colorado has dropped three of its last four games, albeit the losses (BYU, TCU and Utah) are to teams with a combined record of 20-4. Arizona's losses this year — Iowa State, BYU and Houston — are to teams also with a 20-4 record.

"Every game in this league is an absolute dogfight," said Brennan. 

Arizona is usually on the losing end of that bout on the road under Brennan. The Wildcats are 1-6 on the road since last season. Their most recent setback, a 31-28 walk-off loss to Houston, wasn't like the other losses. Before Arizona's loss to Houston, the Wildcats' average margin of defeat on the road was just over 27 points. 

Even though Colorado is having an up-and-down season, all three of the Buffaloes' wins this season are in Boulder. Colorado beat Delaware and Wyoming and upset No. 22 Iowa State. The Buffaloes had one-possession losses to Georgia Tech and BYU — both teams that are undefeated. 

"They've gotten after everyone at home," Brennan said.  

The "challenging atmosphere, crowd noise, (mile-high) elevation, all that stuff" will be factors at Folsom Field for homecoming on Saturday, according to Brennan. 

The Wildcats are four-point favorites to beat the banged-up Buffaloes. In addition to the several season-ending injuries, like defensive end Tre Smith and tight end Tyler Powell, the only Arizona player listed on the Big 12 availability report as out for Saturday is offensive lineman Jordan Brown. Colorado has 10 players either listed as out or doubtful, as of Thursday night. 

All signs point towards Arizona returning to the scene where it won in walk-off fashion two years ago and coming back to Tucson with a chance to become bowl eligible with a homecoming game against Kansas, a team the Wildcats should be favored to beat. 

The Wildcats are two defensive stops and a few plays from having a 6-1 record this season, but Arizona could conceivably right the ship in the next two weeks and reach that postseason mark, which was widely the expectation for the Wildcats after hiring three new coordinators and adding 60-plus newcomers in the season. 

However, Colorado could find a spark against the Wildcats and turn its season around with a spirited win. Something's gotta give. And a loss could be the start of a rough final stretch of the regular season for the losing team.   

"Any given Saturday in the Big 12 is a challenge — any given game in college football," Brennan said. "I think every team in this conference is really good. Every time you line up, you have to be ready to play. It doesn't matter where you play, it doesn't matter who the teams are, it doesn't matter if it's the first-place team or last-place team or anyone in between, every game in this conference is a freaking battle. We've lived that already and we know what that is."