Colorado’s Joe Embree coaches during the second quarter against Ohio State on Sept. 24, 2011, in Columbus, Ohio. (Jay LaPrete, The Associated Press)

BOULDER — It’s not unusual for Colorado coach Jon Embree to talk with the entire squad on Mondays, but this week’s team meeting raised eyebrows, according to players.

Embree gave a critical analysis of the Buffaloes — compliments of Ohio State head coach Luke Fickell.

“I’d never experienced anything like that,” CU senior tight end Matt Bahr recalled Tuesday.

Speaking Tuesday during his weekly media luncheon, Embree said he chatted briefly on Saturday with Fickell during the post-game handshake following the 37-17 Ohio State win in Columbus.

They agreed to talk again by phone on Sunday evening. That conversation lasted about 20 to 30 minutes, Embree said.

Embree sought out Fickell to get an outside opinion about his players. For

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Behind sophomore Melissa Eisele, the San Clemente girls cross country team produced an impressive team victory in Northern California.

Eisele won the individual Division 1 title to lead the Tritons to a team victory at the 2011 Stanford Invitational Saturday at the Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto.

Eisele crossed the finish line of the 5k (3.1 miles) race in a time of 18:02, 18 seconds ahead of April Shonnard (18:20) of Carson High in Nevada, who was second.

Tritons senior Molly Mann (18:46) was sixth overall, as San Clemente (68 points) had four runners finish in the top 13 and five runners finish in the top 40.

Oak Ridge High (75) and Carlmont (173) was second and third in the Division 1 team race.

Fountain Valley (236) was sixth, led by sophomore Amber Bragdon (19:33) who was 24th.

In the girls division 3 race, Corona del Mar senior Ashlee Powers was the top individual county finisher, crossing the finish line in sixth place in a time of 18:16.

The Sea Kings (139 points) finished third, with Santa Margarita (140 points) coming in fourth.

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There’s a term used in sports to describe a team taking control early in a game and forcing the other team to work harder to catch up.

Set the tone.

On Friday night, the Lone Peak Knights football team wasted no time in setting the tone and then hammering the tone home as it took a 35-14 victory over the visiting Mountain Crest Mustangs.

And a major part of that tone came in the form of senior quarterback Chase Hansen, who led the Knights offensive attack-going 13-16 with 221 passing yards and four touchdowns to go along with his 56 rushing yards and one touchdown on the ground.

“Offensively, I think that very first possession kind of set the tone,” Hansen said. “The offensive line and the receivers just did a really good job of that. Once we get comfortable, we can be a pretty deadly offense.”

The Knights wasted no time getting comfortable, as Hansen found fellow senior Micah Hanneman for an eight yard touchdown pass on Lone Peak’s opening drive.

“They worked all summer together,” Lone Peak coach Tony McGeary said.

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Yesterday, Ferris State became the third team to accept the WCHA’s invitation to join their conference. That puts the WCHA at 9 teams, likely for the very short term. Now, the WCHA is just waiting to hear back from Western Michigan and Bowling Green as to what their intentions are.

Western Michigan was waiting to see what Notre Dame decided to do before making any decisions, at least through the first seven times Notre Dame decided to delay making that announcement. The Broncos have waited long enough though, and are now saying they will make their own decision independent of what Notre Dame decides to do. Reading between the lines, Western said they won’t travel to Hockey East, and they’re unlikely to get a Secondary Six bid on their own, leaving the WCHA as their only real option. Western athletic director Kathy Beauregard said there hasn’t been any discussion of exit fees if they join the WCHA, but then are asked to join the Secondary Six at a later date.

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Yonkers has just announced that varsity football will be part of a limited fall sports program.

Im gathering more information, but a district spokesperson believes all eligible football schools will field teams this fall.

Heres the districts complete release:

Yonkers Public Schools announced that Varsity Football will be a reality as part of the Districts limited Fall Sports Program.

While excellence in the classroom is essential, participation in athletics also provides intrinsic value to a students development, said Yonkers Board of Education President Paresh Patel. Although the District cannot guarantee a complete interscholastic athletics program, we will provide what we can.

The early announcement of the reinstatement of Varsity Football is based on the Section I deadline for scheduling and practice requirements. The Trustees, however, are determined to provide an equitable allocation of sports for the Fall Varsity Program. They insist that the pain must be shared.

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ST. LOUIS — Edwin Jackson prefers to see the positive in being traded six times.

The right-hander was dealt twice on Wednesday, going from the Chicago White Sox to the Toronto Blue Jays and then to the St. Louis Cardinals. He’ll make his first start for St. Louis, his seventh major league stop, on Friday.

He says he’s happy to be wanted. The 27-year-old Jackson was 7-7 with a 3.92 ERA for the White Sox and is 55-58 with a career 4.53 ERA. He throws in the mid- to upper 90s and the Cardinals believe he’s capable of much better.

Jackson won 14 games for Tampa Bay in 2008 and 13 for Detroit in 2009, and threw a no-hitter for Arizona a year ago at Tampa Bay.

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