It's much too early to tell after a week of spring drills and three unpadded practices who will be the starting cornerbacks on the Colorado defense next fall. But one player believes he might have an advantage on much of his competition.

Sophomore-to-be Jimmy Smith earned significant playing time toward the end of last season when senior Terrence Wheatley was injured. Smith made a game-changing interception in the second half against Nebraska and returned it for a touchdown.

None of the defensive backs competing at the position have much game experience, but Smith has more than others. He has been working mostly with a group that appears to be the first-string at this point. The cornerback on the opposite side is usually senior-to-be Gardner McKay.

"I just feel like it was kind of an advantage because I got to experience what it's like to be on the field," Smithsaid. "Now I can take what I know and put it to use in spring."

Smith said he also believes he has an advantage in being the tallest of the cornerbacks. It makes him difficult to throw over and he can jump for balls with big wide receivers. Smith is listed at 6-foot-2.

Jailil Brown, Cha-pelle Brown, Anthony Wright and Jonathan Hawkins also are competing for the job. Redshirt freshman Lamont Smith is also in the mix. He said he is trying to make sure he is eligible next fall after a rough season in the classroom last fall. Smith was held out of practice on Thursday to complete a paper for a class.

All the defensive backs are happy to have 13-year National Football League veteran Ashley Ambrose on the coaching staff this year as a defensive technical intern. In one week, they say he has already made them better.

"He teaches us the little things," Jimmy Smith said. "Things to pay attention to. He teaches you some tricks to playing man coverage. He just knows a lot about it."

Mr. and Mr. Smith

Most of the Colorado ski team watched Thursday's practice from the sidelines and its members cheered loudly every time a ball was thrown in the direction of Josh Smith. No, not the dynamic wide receiver who made his debut last fall as a true freshman, the ski team was cheering for junior Nordic specialist Josh Smith.

The two athletes have had some of their records mixed up in the past year, which led some in the department to think of having the two trade places for a day. So the football player spent part of his day on the slopes and the skier was given a helmet, shorts and a No. 1 jersey and invited to run pass routes with the other No. 1.

Their experience was filmed by 9News and will be aired on Channel 9 at 10:30 Sunday night. It will also be available on CUBuffs.com. Channel 9 and CUBuffs.com have formed a new partnership to produce similar feature stories, sports information director Dave Plati said.

Coach Dan Hawkins said he has no policy prohibiting his players from skiing or snowboarding.

"If you're in Colorado and you're going to keep them from skiing?" Hawkins said. "If you're at USC, you can't go to the beach. I mean, come on."

'You're always a Buff'

Before he parted ways with his players for spring break, Hawkins took the time to remind them to conduct themselves with class and integrity. With four players having been arrested or cited for different incidents over the past two months, Hawkins and CU administrators have made it known they are tired of reading about football players in the police blotter.

"A huge percentage of all college students are going to take spring break and disconnect their brain from their body, and go wild," Hawkins said. "These guys cannot do that.

"I told them. I said, 'Guess what? You're always a Buff.' You're always on this football team. You're always my kid. So wherever you go, you better think about that."

Hawkins said he plans to visit his daughter in Boise, Idaho, next week and his father in the Pacific Northwest before taking in a few practices at Cal.

Wheel of fortune

or misfortune

CU coaches have put another new fun twist on the end of practices this spring. They created the wheel of fortune. A player spins the wheel. He is then assigned a task such a making a field goal if you're place-kicker. If the player comes through, he is rewarded with whatever the needle points to on the wheel, such as a ride up the hill on a golf cart after practice or going to the front of the dinner line.

There are also punishments for the wheel. If a player commits a turnover and has an unfortunate spin, he could be sent to "Pit's Pleasure Palace" where strength and conditioning coach Jeff Pitman doles out the punishment.

"He goes over there and punks you for 10 minutes or something," Hawkins said. "They're pretty funny."

Notable

Josh Smith, D.J. Dykes, Scotty McKnight, Kenrick Celestine, Cha'pelle Brown, Brian Lockridge, and Jason Espinoza are competing for the punt return job. Lamont Smith is also in the mix, when he is at practice. ... Redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Ballenger worked on the punt team during one special teams session Thursday. He was the player making the calls and lined up a few yards behind the line of scrimmage. ... The practice ended with offensive lineman Devin Head and defensive lineman Conrad Obi charged with catching a kickoff to prevent the offense and defense from having to run. Head just missed his, but Obi dived backwards and snagged his with his fingertips. He was mobbed by the entire defense. ... When asked if he is installing a new offense this spring, Hawkins said, "Were always evolving."