Head coach Steve Sarkisian said that the Red River Showdown is what college football is all about during his weekly press conference Monday. 

Played at the Cotton Bowl — an iconic stadium wedged halfway between Austin and Norman in downtown Dallas — the annual Texas-Oklahoma matchup is one of college football’s most renowned rivalry games. With the stadium crowd split along the 50-yard line, one endzone is treated like a home game, the other an away game.

“What an awesome environment for college football,” Sarkisian said. “From the moment you start pulling into the state fair on your buses and you see both sides, that’s what it’s about. I’m getting goosebumps right now thinking about it.”

Last season, Sarkisian found out just how hard it is to play football at a neutral site. One of his takeaways from last year’s 55-48 loss was how the team handled driving down the field into enemy territory.

The Longhorns played the fourth quarter starting on the Texas side of the stadium and had to drive into a sea of Oklahoma crimson to score. The hostile environment surrounding the end zone certainly contributed to Texas fourth-quarter gameplay, when Oklahoma overcame an 11-point deficit to win the game by a touchdown.

“I don’t think we were very mature last year,” Sarkisian said. “I thought we lost a little bit of composure in last year’s game, especially in that fourth quarter when we were backed up in that end.”

Part of Sarkisian’s approach to his second Red River Showdown is a philosophy taken from his mentor, Alabama head coach Nick Saban: Don’t eat the media’s rat poison.

For the first time since 1998, both the Longhorns and the Sooners are unranked heading into the rivalry game. After topping Nebraska 49-14 in week three, Oklahoma has lost two straight Big 12 conference matchups against Kansas State and TCU. On the other side of the coin, Texas comes off a dominating win against West Virginia and has lost two previous games by a total of four points.

Despite ESPN listing the Longhorns as seven-point favorites Saturday, Sarkisian understands that Oklahoma is a talented team that will bring its best to Dallas.

“Last time I checked this morning when I walked in our building, the Golden Hat wasn’t there,” Sarkisian said. “It’s going to take maximum mental intensity and focus and execution to come out on top. That’s what we’re striving to do.”

Despite the team being unranked and sitting at the bottom of the Big 12 standings, the Sooners have won four straight Red River Showdowns and can execute well on both sides of the ball. Most notably, the Oklahoma offense is adept at creating space for its skill players, forcing opposing defenses into one-on-one matchups. 

However, Texas’ secondary has stepped up in the previous two games. Led by super seniors Anthony Cook and D’Shawn Jamison, the Longhorns’ secondary had seven pass breakups and had a couple of interceptions slip through their fingertips.

“I love the effort by the guys,” Sarkisian said. “We’re punching and ripping at the ball, so it’s not about effort and want-to. Sooner or later, that dam will break. We’ve got to continue to play with that effort and tenacity.”

Cook and Jamison are two of seven players that topped Oklahoma at the Red River Showdown in 2018. While the winless stretch since has been frustrating for Texas players and fans alike, Sarkisian said that the team has to live in the moment to come out on top.

“We can’t harbor our past,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve got to learn from our past, then we’ve got to move forward and develop those necessary steps.”