STANFORD, Calif. -- A year ago, Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre watched his struggling team play Stanford close early before a pair of quick scores just before halftime broke the game open and helped catapult the Cardinal to its third Pac-12 championship in four years.How quickly things have changed.This season the Buffaloes are tied for first place in the South Division and charging hard toward a potential berth in the conference title game while Stanford is two games off the pace in the North and simply trying to stay in the postseason picture.Both teams can take a big step forward when they meet for a rare noon kickoff Saturday at Stanford Stadium.Beating Stanford would not only enhance the Buffaloes (5-2, 3-1) hold on the division lead but it would also make them bowl eligible just one year after they lost eight of their nine conference games.Thats nice, Colorado running back Phillip Lindsay said, but he and his teammates remain focused on a bigger prize.Our goal is Pac-12 champs, theres nothing less than that for us, Lindsay said. The bowl game will come as we continue to win games. We just need to focus on ourselves and Colorado football.The Buffaloes are off to their best start since 2005 but have lost five straight to the Cardinal, including all three times since Colorado joined the Pac-12 in 2011.MacIntyre said his team has to match Stanfords toughness in order to win, something the Buffaloes failed to do a year ago when they lost 42-10We have to be more physical than we were last year, MacIntyre said. We have to go in there and go toe-to-toe with them. We have to surpass what they do to be able to win the football game. Thats a big challenge for us.This year could be different.Stanford (4-2, 2-2) has come back to the pack after being dominant in the conference for several years. Many of the problems have come on offense and have been self-inflicted, from turnovers to costly penalties in the red zone that have repeatedly derailed the Cardinals once-prolific offense.Those are things that we dont have here and that we dont accept here, Stanford coach David Shaw said. The thing with us is not doing those things that hurt us. Its just those one or two plays that kill a drive that we just cant have.Here are a few more things to look for when Stanford hosts Colorado:MCCAFFREY ON THE MEND: Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey was held out of last weeks win over Notre Dame with an unspecified injury. The 2015 Heisman Trophy finalist did some light on-field work three days after the Cardinal beat the Irish but is still questionable. If McCaffrey cant go, Stanford will once again lean on Bryce Love, who had his first career 100-yard game against Notre Dame.RETURN OF THE MAC: Before taking over the Buffaloes program in 2013, MacIntyre spent three seasons as the coach at San Jose State and went 16-21 with the Spartans. While hes looking forward to going back to the Bay Area, MacIntyre wont have much time for walking down memory lane. After the game Ill probably get to see a few of those guys before we get on the bus to head back, MacIntyre said. That was a very special place in our familys lives.LINDSAY ON A ROLL: While McCaffrey is must-see TV every time he touches the ball, Lindsay has also done quite well for himself this season. The Colorado junior leads the Pac-12 with 614 rushing yards with 10 touchdowns and is the reigning conference player of the week after rushing for a career-best 216 yards and three scores against Arizona State.GILBERTS PASS RUSH: Colorado outside linebacker Jimmie Gilbert leads the Pac-12 with 6 + sacks this season and leads the nation with five forced fumbles. Gilbert has had at least one forced fumble in three consecutive games and will be facing a Stanford offensive line that has been banged up most of the year.Nike VaporMax Plus Sunset Black+Total Orange+Yellow . Galatasaray said in a statement on its website Monday that Mancini signed a three-year contract and will be paid 3.5 million euros for the upcoming season, with his salary upped to 4. Wholesale Off White Vapormax . On June 12, just as the sun sets on the magnificent historical city of Sao Paulo the inventors, innovators and purveyors of “joga bonitowill” open their campaign. 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LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets.(STATS) -- Devlin Hodges and Samford got quite a gift Sunday when they made the FCS playoff field despite a 15-14 upset loss to ETSU in their season finale.On Tuesday, the sophomore was honored for his particularly outstanding body of work in his first 10 games. Hodges was named the Southern Conferences offensive player of the year by both the coaches and media after leading the FCS in completions (342), completion percentage (71.4) and finishing third in touchdown passes (33).Shout out to my Dogs for getting me this one! Love you boys! Hodges tweeted in reaction to the award.Chattanooga had the SoCons offensive player of the year last season in Jacob Huesman, but this year had the conferences top defender in senior lineman Keionta Davis. The coaches voted Western Carolina quarterback Tyrie Adams as the freshman of the year.Unbeaten conference champion The Citadel took home the SoCons final two coaches awards. Offensive lineman Isaiah Pinson, Jr. won the Jacobs Blocking Award while Brent Thompson was named the conferences top coach in his first year on the sidelines for the Bulldogs.Chattanooga led the way on the coaches all-conference first team with seven selections. The Citadel followed with six, Wofford had five and Samford four, giving the leagues four playoff teams 222 of the 24 first-team spots, including specialists.dddddddddddd---=SOCON POSTSEASON AWARDS=OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR -- Devlin Hodges, QB, SamfordDEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR -- Keionta Davis, DL, ChattanoogaFRESHMAN OF THE YEAR -- Tyrie Adams, QB, Western CarolinaJACOBS BLOCKING AWARD -- Isaiah Pinson, OL, The CitadelCOACH OF THE YEAR -- Brent Thompson, The CitadelALL-SOCON FIRST TEAMOFFENSEQB -- Devlin Hodges, SamfordRB -- Derrick Craine, ChattanoogaRB -- Lorenzo Long, WoffordOL -- Nick Jeffreys, The CitadelOL -- Isaiah Pinson, The CitadelOL -- Corey Levin, ChattanoogaOL -- Jacob Revis, ChattanoogaOL -- Anton Wahrby, WoffordTE -- Ryan Swingle, VMIWR -- Karel Hamilton, SamfordWR -- Andrej Suttles, FurmanDEFENSEDL -- Joe Crochet, The CitadelDL -- Keionta Davis, ChattanoogaDL -- Miles Brown, WoffordDL -- Tyler Vaughn, WoffordLB -- Shaheed Salmon, SamfordLB -- Dale Warren, ChattanoogaLB -- Nakevion Leslie, ChattanoogaDB -- Dee Delaney, The CitadelDB -- Kailik Williams, The CitadelDB -- Omari Williams, SamfordDB -- Lucas Webb, ChattanoogaSPECIALISTSPK -- David Marvin, WoffordP -- Ian Berryman, Western CarolinaRS -- DeAndre Schoultz, The Citadel ' ' '