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Arizona running back Ka’Deem Carey ready for his encore vs. Colorado

Ka'Deem Carey, after the fourth of his five rushing touchdowns vs. Colorado last season. Photo by Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Ka’Deem Carey, after the fourth of his five rushing touchdowns vs. Colorado last season. Photo by Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Arizona Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez has been quoting the movie, “The Lion King” for years.

Specifically, he’ll recall the part where the monkey Rafiki hits the lion Simba on the head.

“What was that for,” Simba says.

“It’s doesn’t matter,” Rafiki replies. “It’s in the past.”

That’s the attitude Arizona running back Ka’Deem Carey is adopting as he is set to play Colorado tonight, his encore performance after putting up a school- and Pac-12 record 366 rushing yards against the Buffs last season.

It’s in the past.

“Ka’Deem is great with that,” said offensive coordinator and running backs coach Calvin Magee.

“Of course, we know he did well, but he hasn’t even mentioned it, it’s not even an issue with him. All he’s thinking about is their personnel now, their scheme now, what he needs to do now.”

Carey is leading the nation in rushing with 160.2 yards per game, coming off a 39-carry, 232-yard performance against Utah. (Those totals were adjusted from 40 and 236 after it was discovered he was attributed a carry that belonged to Daniel Jenkins.)

He seemed to come out of the game just fine after the heavy workload, saying Tuesday he felt good.

“At one point, I knew (the number of carries) was getting up there, but the focus was on winning the game,” Magee said. “He’s in good shape and has prepared his body for that.”

Regarding last year’s game, Carey remembers the offensive line “just giving me holes that trucks could go through,” but, hey, that’s in the past.

This Colorado team has a new coach, Mike MacIntyre, and a new linebacker, true freshman Addison Gillam, who is leading the Pac-12 in tackles with 9.8 per game.

“I want to say they have stronger linebackers,” Carey said. “They’re getting directed in a good way right now by that new coach up there, so they have a lot of fire.”

The Buffs, though, rank 78th nationally against the run, allowing 174.5 rushing yards per game.

Carey’s game against Colorado last season began a nine-game stretch in which he has averaged 191.2 rushing yards per game.

He is looking ahead for more against Colorado. More than 366?

“I told the linemen, let’s go chase it,” Carey said.

“We’re going to try to not only win, but win big and make a statement that Arizona is here.”

Related: Colorado coach: Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey the ‘best I’ve seen in a long time’

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