Deion: I asked players if they're in love with football after Stanford loss

Colorado's epic collapse against Stanford on Friday night prompted head coach Deion Sanders to ask his team to look in the mirror and reflect on its hunger to succeed.

"What I just said in the locker room to the team is they got to make up in their mind, are they in love with this game or are they in like with it?” Sanders said postgame, according to On3's Nick Kosko. “Because when you love something, you give to it unconditionally. You give everything you got. But when you like it, that’s just a button you push. It lights up and, like, that’s what they do on social media."

He added: "And it’s hard for me because I love this. I love it. Without a shadow of a doubt, I am truly 100% in love with this thing. And I just want people to match me, just match my passion, match my heart, match my love, match my consistency, match my mannerisms, just match every darn thing I give to this game."

Colorado blew a 29-0 lead in Friday's loss as Stanford came back to win 46-43 in double overtime. Including the overtime sessions, the Buffaloes were outscored 46-14 after halftime. Sanders was left in disbelief postgame, telling reporters that he's never been involved in a collapse that large, even dating back to youth football.

“I had never been in one of these,” Sanders told reporters. "This is a little tough for me, and I’m trying my best, and I thank you all for your patience and thank you for your heart."

After starting the season 3-0, Colorado has now lost three of its last four games. Sanders says the team needs to avoid having a "pity party" for themselves.

"We have no choice but to go forward, that’s life,” he said. "We didn’t expect that. A lot of things that go on in life are unexpected and this was one of them."