DENVER — A former University of Colorado football player accused of being at the center of a sex and drugs scandal that erupted at the school in 2002 faces prosecution for an alleged sex assault before he joined the team.

An Arapahoe County District judge has ordered District Attorney Carol Chambers to suggest a special prosecutor by July 6 to bring charges by Oct. 5 against former player Clyde Surrell and Riley McMurdo in an alleged assault after a high school graduation party in 2000.

A number listed for Surrell was inoperable, and McMurdo did not immediately return a phone message Saturday.

In 2007, prosecutors in Larimer County reviewed the case at Chambers' request and agreed there was insufficient evidence to file charges.