Deion Sanders and Jay Norvell Previously Faced Off in 1999 Cowboys-Colts Game

The Rocky Mountain Showdown won't be the first time the two coaches have butted heads.

Colorado coach Deion Sanders and Colorado State coach Jay Norvell have found themselves the unlikely nerve centers of the college football universe this week, as Saturday night’s Rocky Mountain Showdown enjoys some unprecedented juice.

However, as ESPN reporter and former Denver Post writer Adam Schefter noted in a Saturday afternoon social media post, it’s not the first meeting between the two men.

On Halloween 1999, the Cowboys visited the Colts at the old RCA Dome in Indianapolis. Sanders was in his fifth season as a cornerback for Dallas; Norvell was Indianapolis’s wide receivers coach under Jim Mora.

The Colts won the game 34–24, although Sanders contributed five tackles and a 76-yard punt return.

They meet again:

Last time Deion Sanders and Jay Norvell met was Halloween 1999, when Sanders was the Cowboys’ All-Pro CB and Norvell was the Colts’ WR coach. With Peyton Manning leading the way, the Colts erased a 17-6 deficit to win 34-24. Now Sanders and Norvell meet again,…

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 16, 2023

During his weekly radio hit Wednesday, Norvell took a thinly veiled swipe at Sanders, recalling that he told ESPN, "When I talk to grown-ups, I take my hat and my glasses off. That's what my mother taught me."

Sanders responded by calling the 130-year-old rivalry “personal" and gifting sunglasses to every Buffalo ahead of Saturday's contest.