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Head coach Steve Sarkisian goes to the stadium before the game against the Florida Gators.

For the first time in 13 years, the college football Lone Star Showdown begins. The epic rivalry between the University of Texas and Texas A&M University is finally back. And shortly before the game began, Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian jokingly admitted that his team was the “villain” of this year’s history.

“These people hate you,” Sark was warned

During College GameDay, Sarkisian answered questions about the teams’ unique rivalry and the key to the big game. The Longhorns play at the Aggies’ home stadium, which is known for providing a particularly hyped and unsettling environment for the competition. At one point during his interview, he was jokingly warned that “these people hate you,” as some Aggie fans booed and hissed in the background.

“You have to embrace the hate,” Sarkisian said. “It has to drive you, and it’s okay to be the bad guy. We’re the villain in this movie this week.”

He also said he was happy the rivalry had returned.

“In this time of realignment of college football, of doing nothing and expanding the College Football Playoff and people talking about how rivalries aren’t happening anymore and conferences aren’t the same as they used to be, that was huge for us ” he said, noting that both the rivalries between Texas A&M and Arkansas have returned.

“This one is more important than any other and is dividing the state,” he added. “Houses are divided. All eyes are on the state of Texas today, that’s for sure.”

Sarkisian is the temporary leader against Texas A&M

Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle revealed that Sarkisian has his own rivalry with Texas A&M. Zwerneman shared that Sarkisian was the university’s “all-time passing leader” and threw for 536 yards against A&M in 1996.

When Sarkisian learned he still held the record, he replied, “I didn’t know that was still true, but thanks for reminding me.”

A video with highlights from the game can be viewed below.

The game was the opener of the 1996 season and a highlight of the season, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

BYU won 41-37 over Texas A&M.

Chad Lewis told the Statesman: “He was fearless in that moment. He entered this season with the right amount of swagger. It wasn’t exaggerated. It was perfect. And because he had that guts, he looked out with the game on the line and said, ‘I’m going to go for it right now. We’re going to win this thing.’ And that is really inspiring. When a quarterback thinks like that, everyone else rises up.”

The play is even more impressive when you consider that A&M’s defense at the time featured future NFL players Ed Jasper, Brandon Mitchell and Pat Williams.

Sarkisian said this season that one of the keys to his team’s impressive play was culture.

“Culture is organic. This is not a registration in your building. It’s not a t-shirt you’re wearing. It’s not about breaking the team apart and saying, ‘Culture at 3’…” he said.

The showdown between University of Texas and Texas A&M begins at 6:30 p.m. Central/7:30 p.m. Eastern. The game will be played in College Station, Texas.

Stephanie Dube Dwilson is a sports and entertainment writer for Heavy covering Texas Longhorns football and Hallmark. She reported live on the 2016 and 2020 presidential election results for Heavy. She is an attorney with a master’s degree in science and technology journalism and runs a website called The Verified Report about UFO news and FOIA reports. More about Stephanie Dube Dwilson