As the last 20 seconds of the game clock ticked down in Athens, Georgia, I was running as quickly as I could down the stairs leading from the press box to the ground floor.

The elevator attendant had informed me before the start of the game that the elevators closed at three points throughout the night: the five minutes before kickoff, during halftime and the last five minutes of the game.

What she didn’t tell me was that the press box, where my beat partner Zach Davis and I sat throughout the game, was on the east endzone, while the visitor press conference occurred behind the west endzone.

Fast forward and we’re weaving through Georgia fans basking in glory and Texas fans shuffling down stairs in defeat.

At last, the crowd cleared and we took off down the straightaway — boot heels and all clacking against the solid concrete steps into the brisk November air.

Midway down, the home stretch to the ground floor was rudely interrupted as I missed a step and went crashing to the ground, clanging into the siderail and holding my notebook and phone up in the air as I skidded down three or four steps.

I absolutely busted my ass.

When reflecting on this season as a whole, I get the same feeling that I felt through my flight down the Sanford Stadium stairwell. I missed the elevator, yet charged down the stairs and scraped my way through the busiest part of the journey, slowly but unscathed. Yet in the final lap, so close to my destination, I took a misstep, crashed and fell. Almost a week later, I still bear the bruises to show for it.

That could well be the culmination of the season — the final note that we end upon. The Georgia loss really was devastating, especially in the fact that it went down without much of a fight. The Longhorns handed the win over. Quite literally, they slipped and fell down the stairs of their own accord.

Here’s the thing: That wasn’t the end of my story.

I didn’t just lay on the stairs in defeat. When Zach turned around in shock to the sight of me post-crash on the floor, all I could do was laugh.

Then I got up on my own and kept running until we made it to the press conference in perfect timing. To quote my beat partner, I “took it like a champ.”

Texas’ season isn’t over, even after that disastrous game. There are still two rivalry games left within this season and both Arkansas and Texas A&M will be coming to the Longhorns’ home turf. When it comes to a rivalry, the outside world is silenced. Nothing matters but what’s on the field and it sure helps that that field will be at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Texas doesn’t have to sit on the stairwell. The Longhorns can feel the bruises and remember the fall — but they can also get up by themselves, keep pushing forward and remember to have fun during the process.

Let’s hope they heed by my good example.