Rick Neuheisel is a little older, he says a lot wiser, and a definitely different coach at Washington than he was at Colorado. For one thing, the guitar is in the back of the closet gathering dust.

"I was never quite the guitar player anyway," he says.

And although his trademark "fun" team outings have continued, he now refuses to talk about them.

"I'm not telling you (what we've done)," he says and laughs. "I enjoyed taking the players skiing and tubing. I think the mistake I made was letting it become public. (The perception was) that I was this joker fun guy that didn't understand how to be serious."

	Rick Neuheisel is one of the few who could make a run at 330 wins.

That, for the most part, has changed. After an upset win over Miami last Saturday, the "joker fun guy" has the Huskies 2-0 and ranked No.10 in the country heading back to Colorado to play the 0-2 Buffaloes.

Neuheisel will face throngs of fans who are still furious that their fair-haired boy wonder, fun or not, left them in a lurch in January 1999 after promising he'd stay. He had a $635,000 contract, a house and a loan that would be forgiven if he had stayed until 2002. But Washington and its five-year, $997,000 per-year deal beckoned. Neuheisel insists he did what any family man would have done -- opted for security in a role that often is rarely secure.

He also thought he'd have a better opportunity to win, which is what stings the Boulder fans most.

Neuheisel says he understands their wrath.

"Yeah, I do," he says. "It's okay for them to be mad at me and hurl the things they're going to say at me because that means they're passionate about Colorado. Whether that's how it should manifest itself, I'm not sure. But the bottom line is this is what makes college football so fun. People bleed black and gold or purple and gold and they do that on Saturdays and they are going to vent."

Especially when many of the fans are equating Neuheisel's departure with the Buffs' disappointing 0-2 start this season, saying mistakes he made at CU are continuing to manifest themselves. Ironically, it's about the same situation the Huskies faced last season when Colorado traveled to Seattle -- they, too, were 0-2 and question marks were dangling over Neuheisel's head. Washington won the game 31-24 and Neuheisel was surprised when many of the CU players stayed on the field after the game to greet him.

	Neuheisel's career record
	Year	School	W	L	Pct.
	1995	Colorado	10	2	.833
	1996	Colorado	10	2	.833
	1997	Colorado	5	6	.455
	1998	Colorado	8	4	.667
	1999	Wash.	7	5	.583
	Total	5 seasons	40	19	.677

"I was very moved by their graciousness and their willingness to come up and say, 'Hey how you doing? Wish you well.' Because we did have some great times at Colorado despite what you might have read and despite what the people might have said about our program," Neuheisel says. "We had a lot of fun. We had a lot of success."

But Gary Barnett and the Buffs are in trouble. With No. 7 Kansas State, Texas A&M and No. 6 Texas up next, a loss to the Huskies means Colorado has the very real possibility of going 0-6 to start the season. And that makes for a very dangerous game, crowd insults aside, Neuheisel says.

"There's a lot at stake," he says simply.

For a lot of reasons.

Neuheisel and the team will stay Friday night in Denver, about 45 minutes from Boulder, and leave directly following the game. Walking back into Folsom Field "from the other side," will be emotional for him, he admits.

"I have enjoyed my ride in this college football world," Neuheisel says. "Colorado was great to me. I have wonderful friends there, wonderful relationships. I think there are a lot of people who appreciate what we got accomplished in Colorado."

And a lot who don't.

"I know it will be hostile," he says. "But if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen, right?"