In his two-plus years at the Colorado helm, Dan Hawkins has notched some significant wins over teams with some great tradition.

Oklahoma, Nebraska and West Virginia come to mind.

Common thread? All at Folsom Field.

It means Hawk still has a big hole in his rebuilding résumé at Colorado: a signature road win.

Thus far, Hawkins' biggest CU wins away from home have been over Colorado State (neutral field) and at Texas Tech. While the win over Texas Tech last season was impressive, it's not what you call a "signature" win.

The Buffs can change that today.

(Yes, we know today's contest vs. Florida State in Jacksonville is technically a neutral site. But with roughly 47,000 of the anticipated crowd of 50,000 expected to be Seminole fans -- and just a couple hours down the highway from Tallahassee -- it's a road game in about every sense of the word.)

Today's game, the second for CU in what might be one of the toughest stretches on anyone's schedule this season, is the latest chance for the Buffs to send a message nationally.

The Seminoles without doubt have been one of the nation's premier programs over the last 20 years. They've won two national titles in that span (the most recent in 1999), they've been virtually a constant in the nation's top 25 (22 finishes since 1984), and their coach is an icon of the game in every sense of the word. Bobby Bowden will step on the sidelines today for the 500th time as a head coach, a number matched by only two other men (Amos Alonzo Stagg and Joe Paterno).

It's an opportunity that doesn't come along very often for a program eager to re-establish itself in the national eye.

But throw a damper on Bowden's 500th party and do it on national television, and you can bet that people around the nation will sit up and take notice.

Certainly, the Buffs turned some heads with their win over West Virginia nine days ago. Enough so, anyway, that they received more than a handful of votes in both the AP and coaches' polls.

But a win today would bump the prestige meter another notch.

No doubt, the odds are stacked against Colorado today. About a dozen Seminoles will be makingtheir 2008 debuts after serving three-game suspensions. It means a good defense will be even better, and a struggling offense should get a shot in the arm.

Then there's the distraction of playing on the road, as well as the reputation of the team wearing the home uniforms. Throw in the hoopla surrounding Bowden's 500th game, and the Buffs couldn't be blamed for going in a little wide-eyed.

Hawkins, though, says he expect his young Buffs to be star-struck.

"That's the benefit of the schedule that we play," Hawkins said earlier this week. "Playing at Invesco, playing on television, playing West Viriginia ... We always talk about just having your 'A' game in life everyday.

"We're going to travel, play on the national stage and play a good team. They just look at that as being Colorado football."

There, however, some factors in CU's favor.

Because the game isn't in Tallahassee, only a small gathering of students is expected, rather than the regular 15,000 that attend games at FSU. And, while the crowd will definitely be heavily tilted toward the Seminoles, it will still be smaller than if the game were in Tallahassee.

But no matter where the game is played, the Buffs will need their "A" game. That means eliminating turnovers and penalties, and establishing more consistency on the offensive side of the ball. It means protecting quarterback Cody Hawkins, producing enough of a running game to keep the Seminoles honest up front, and creating more of the big plays that seem to already have become a staple of this team.

Defensively, it means another effort like the one that limited West Virginia to just 14 points. Buff defensive coordinator Ron Collins had a great game plan for the Mountaineers; if he can duplicate that today, the Buffs should be in the game down the stretch.

By no means is this a "must-win" for the Buffs. Lose, and they'll still have the entire Big 12 season in front of them.

But, if the Buffs want to truly put themselves in the national picture four games into the season, this is indeed an opportunity they can't afford to squander.

CU in 2008

Aug. 31 -- CU 38, Colorado St. 17

Sept. 6 -- CU 31 Eastern Washington 24

Sept. 13 -- Bye

Sept. 18 -- CU 17, West Virginia 14, OT

Sept. 27 -- Florida State (at Jacksonville), 1:30 p.m., ABC

Oct. 4 -- TEXAS, 5 p.m., FSN

Oct. 11 -- at Kansas

Oct. 18 -- KANSAS STATE

Oct. 25 -- at Missouri

Nov. 1 -- at Texas A&M

Nov. 8 -- IOWA STATE

Nov. 15 -- OKLAHOMA STATE

Nov. 28 -- at Nebraska, 1:30 p.m., ABC