Ahead of what will be at least their lone regular season conference meeting, Deion Sanders and Dan Lanning are exchanging effusive praise.

Sanders was asked about Lanning ahead of Saturday’s marquee game (12:30 p.m., ABC) between No. 19 Colorado and No. 10 Oregon.

“I respect the heck out of this man, what he’s accomplished stepping in taking over a program and keeping it not only rocking steady but accelerating it,” Sanders said. “I’m not a fan of anybody except for some of the celebrities that got a tremendous gift but not in sports. I respect the heck out of him. I love what he’s accomplishing. I love who is, the way he runs his team. I love the way he operates. I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”

Lanning was critical of CU’s history in the Pac-12 when he was asked about its decision to leave for the Big 12, but made it clear on Monday to anyone who missed the original context that those comments were not about Sanders’ team. Oregon’s coach has been complimentary of Sanders throughout the offseason and was again this week.

“I’d be a fool not to recognize all of the success they have created on a team that didn’t have a lot of success before,” Lanning said. “He’s done a phenomenal job and recruited a lot of players that I am familiar with personally, they are there playing for him, they’ve got a good roster, and they are winning games. … I think coach Sanders has done a great job, obviously, with his team. He’s created a lot of momentum, and they’ve done phenomenal in their first three games. So this will be a fun one for us.”