Air Force running back Tim McVey runs for a touchdown against VMI during an NCAA college football game in Colorado Springs, Colo., Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017.(Dougal Brownlie | Colorado Springs Gazette/ AP)
ANN ARBOR -- It was last April, on a cross-the-world trip to Italy, when Don Brown broke from the college football norm.

Coaches are infamous for only wanting to discuss the next opponent, using cliche phrases such as "one game at a time" to dissuade eager reporters from looking down the road.

Yet there was the Michigan defensive coordinator, revving up for a series of practices on foreign soil, talking about Week 3 opponent Air Force. 

"Because it's so different," Michigan cornerbacks coach Mike Zordich said this week. "It's a different deal. What we have worked on from April until now, you put that all aside and you're doing something totally different."