Colorado football fans planning to travel to Tallahassee, Fla., next September to watch the Buffs take on Florida State for the third time in five years will probably have to tweak their itinerary.

CU and Florida State are close to an agreement that would move the game to Jacksonville's Municipal Stadium or Tampa's Raymond James Stadium, CU athletic director Mike Bohn said.

The game is scheduled for Sept. 20 and will be the first in a brutal three-game stretch that also includes home games against West Virginia and Texas. Bohn said the game could be moved up a week to Sept. 13, which is slated as a bye week now. Details are still being discussed.

Florida State president T.K. Wetherell told the Tampa Tribune last month that he would like the game to be moved to Tampa, which is home to the fifth-largest population of FSU alumni.

The Seminoles haven't played in Tampa since 1979, but they have played in Jacksonville several times in that span, including a victory over Alabama earlier this season. FSU trounced Colorado 47-7 in 2003, the first time CU traveled to Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee.

"We would clearly like to move the Colorado game to either Jacksonville or Tampa," Wetherell told the Tribune. "I have to believe that Colorado would much prefer to play anywhere than Doak Campbell Stadium."

Bohn said the idea was proposed by Florida State, but CU is willing to move the game because it offers coach Dan Hawkins and the Buffs some relief in the midst of that difficult stretch early in the season.

Who has heart?

For the 10th consecutive season, the fans behind the Colorado bench will award one CU player the Buffalo Heart Award at the end of Friday's game.

The award was conceived during the 1998 season by CU season-ticket holder Pat Grimes and several friends who enjoyed watching former wide receiver Darrin Chiaverini play. The award is given to the player who shows heart, grit, determination and desire throughout the season.

NCAA rules allow fans to give such awards as long as they don't cost more than $75. Former linebacker Thaddaeus Washington won the award last season.

CU sports information director Dave Plati said the school hopes to be able to post the name of the winner on the scoreboard at the end of the game. Fans in section 119 and others nearby vote on the award in the weeks leading up to the final home game every season, Grimes said.

The award has always been given to a senior, but Grimes said every Buff is eligible.

"I'm very happy the award has been embraced by the program, the players and the fans," Grimes said. "It gives all the fans a chance to show their appreciation not only to the player who wins but for all the CU players who have practiced so hard and put in so much time and effort for our ultimate enjoyment.

"The true joy is seeing the face of the player who usually has played his last game on Folsom Field when he receives the award and knows the fans have recognized his play."

Likely candidates for this season's award include: senior cornerback Terrence Wheatley, who has endured four wrist surgeries at CU; senior linebacker Jordon Dizon; senior offensive linemen Tyler Polumbus and Edwin Harrison; senior running backs Hugh Charles and Byron Ellis; senior wide receivers Dusty Sprague and Cody Crawford; and junior special teams captain R.J. Brown, who was forced to miss much of the season after suffering multiple concussions.

'Heart' winners

1998 — Darrin Chiaverini, wide receiver

1999 — Mike Moschetti, quarterback

2000 — Eric McCready, wide receiver

2001 — Cortlen Johnson, tailback

2002 — Tyler Brayton, Defensive tackle

2003 — Medford Moorer, free safety

2004 — Bobby Purify, tailback

2005 — Joel Klatt, quarterback

2006 — Thaddaeus Washington, linebacker