Many college football fans make the often-alcohol-induced threat to eat their rival team for lunch. This weekend in Colorado, some actually will.

The University of Colorado Buffaloes and Colorado State University Rams are preparing for Sunday’s Rocky Mountain Showdown, now in its 80th year.

Body paint is coming out the cabinet, Ram horns and Buffalo heads are coming out of the closet. And devoted football fiends are grilling up something special for the big game: buffalo burgers, bison steaks, veal cutlets or lamb kabobs.

“Something from the ram family seems appropriate,” Buffs backer Andy Scott, 26, said of his pre-game meal.

In Fort Collins, CSU students this week are cleaning off their barbecue burners for a “Grill the Buffs” pep rally.

“It’s an all-day thing, and the student government grills buffalo burgers and serves them up for the students,” said Sara Goldman, executive assistant to the vice president. “People think it’s pretty funny.”

Because buffalo meat isn’t exactly on a college student’s tailgate budget, Goldman said the Rams faithful come out in droves for the rally to get their hands on a piece of CU’s mascot.

“People get really excited and say, ‘Yeah, we’re having Ralphie or Ralphie’s mom,’” she said. “They get really into it.”

CU doesn’t have any sort of lamb chop cook-out, but plenty of restaurants around town offer variations of ram meat. Buffs fans on a budget can swing into Pearl Street’s Falafel King and grab a lamb gyro for less than $10, while others can dine on CSU’s mascot in style at the Flagstaff House Restaurant, 1138 Flagstaff Road.

Patrons of the Flagstaff House can order Colorado rack of lamb, lamb loin and braised lamb shank for $52. At Boulder Cork Restaurant, 3295 30th St., lamb loin chops go for $29.50.

Cork general manager Donna Dooley said her business doesn’t get much business during the game, which is at Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver. But, Dooley said, if any Buffs fans want to celebrate or take out their frustrations by cutting into a slab of ram after the game, the Cork “absolutely” has the goods.

Likewise, CSU supporters wanting to order CU’s mascot for dinner have dozens of options, both in Boulder and Fort Collins. CooperSmith’s Pub and Brewery, in Fort Collins, offers a “devil’s backbone buffalo burger” for $8.75, and Stonehouse Grille, also in the Rams’ hometown, offers a “cayenne bleu buffalo burger” for $10.99.

Buffalo orders also can be big in Boulder during the football season — especially at the ChopHouse and Brewery, 921 Walnut St., which sits across the street from St. Julien Hotel & Spa.

“We sell a lot of buffalo, and it’s definitely up when football comes to town,” said Amanda Young, ChopHouse general manager.

Many of the orders come from football fans wearing colors other than CU black and gold, Young said.

“We’re across from a hotel that gets a lot of out-of-state guests, so that definitely helps,” she said.

Because the CU-CSU game is in Denver, it doesn’t pack the Boulder ChopHouse like typical home Buffs games, Young said. But, she said, her restaurant is ordering extra buffalo meat for the following weekend’s game against Eastern Washington University. And, Young said, they’ll keep it coming for subsequent home games — especially those with well-traveled fans.

“The better ranked they are, the better we do.”