FORT COLLINS -- There could be more than one team using the no-huddle offense when the college football season gets underway locally next weekend with the Colorado-Colorado State rivalry in Denver.

First-year CSU head coach Steve Fairchild said his team does not use the no-huddle as its primary mode of operation the way CU began doing last spring, but his team does practice the no-huddle regularly and can use it whenever it wants.

"We have it," Fairchild said. "Every time we practice we open up and play no-huddle with our offense doing that and our defense defending it. We can do it."

Fairchild has a pretty good idea what he's going to see on both sides of the ball from CU.

Yes, the Buffaloes have sped up their offense with a new hurry-up approach that prevents a lot of personnel changes, but CU coaches have said there are not dramatic differences in the scheme besides the pace at which it runs.

Fairchild and his coaches made a trip to Missouri during spring practices to study how the Tigers use the no-huddle system. He is confident his team can defend it because it is something the Rams see every day.

"We've had a no-huddle period every day," he said. "We have never had a practice, even in spring football, where we haven't played a period of no-huddle. I don't think the pace is anything we won't be able to adjust to on either side of the ball."

Both the Rams and the Buffs have the final scrimmages of their respective fall camps scheduled for today.

Fairchild said his team will run about 60 plays and put players in as many situations as possible to prepare them for game day.

CU coach Dan Hawkins has a more lengthy scrimmage planned with a similar emphasis on some specific game situations.

Fairchild said his team has struggled at times with communication and substitutions during previous scrimmages this month.

He can be counted among those who believe some coaches and teams around the nation are going to have to make big adjustments with the new 40 second clock.

The NCAA instituted a rule change this year in which the play clock begins at the end of the previous play just like the NFL. The college game used to use a 25-second clock that began when the referee signaled the ball ready for play.

"I think without the helmet communication system that they have in the NFL, you're going to have to get plays in quick. I don't know how much shifting you're going to be able to do. It's going to be a lot faster-pace game then I think people think."