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Tom Herman was a graduate assistant in 1999 when the Texas bus pulled into the Cotton Bowl for his first Red River Showdown game. 

"I think I've told the story, looking out the window and literally seeing this elderly lady that had to have been 80 years old, going double bird (indicating) to the Texas bus. Then literally next to her was a couldn't have more been than eight-year-old boy going double bird (indicating) to the Texas bus," Herman said. "It speaks to the intensity of the rivalry, that it crosses a lot of different generations."

The Texas coach is going into his third game in the Cotton Bowl with a 1-1 recording the venue. While the last two contests were both intense, coming down the last play, this year's matchup seems to be casting an even bigger shadow with national title implications on both sides for the first time since 2008. 

"It is one of, if not the, greatest games in college football," Herman said. "I have been a part of some pretty cool rivalries in my day. The Battle of Piney Woods was a big one. You guys chuckle but they hate each other. I mean, hate each other. Iowa-Iowa State for three years, then obviously Michigan-Ohio State for three years."

Luckily for Herman, his team is already battle-tested. The Longhorns engaged in a shootout with top-five LSU in Austin earlier this season, then went on the road and won in a hostile West Virginia environment. 

Quarterback Sam Ehlinger is a veteran in the game already, dueling a pair of Sooner Heisman quarterbacks in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray in the past two seasons. 

Players like Collin Johnson, Malcolm Roach, Brandon Jones and Devin Duvernay are all multi-time veterans of the battle for the Red River.  

So is there anything Herman and his senior leaders can tell younger players like Roschon Johnson or Jake Smith that they may not already know about this game?

"Maybe running out of the tunnel knowing they always get the tunnel, their fans get the tunnel, there is a lot of not nice things said," Herman said. "They do a good job of looking up your girlfriend's name and your mom's name and all that stuff, and saying things about family members and all that."

Of course, conquering the pageantry of one of the sport's biggest rivalries is step one. The Longhorns then have to figure out a way to conquer a Sooner team putting up even bigger numbers on offense than they have in the past few seasons. 

Herman and his staff are hard at work trying to figure that part out as we speak. 

We will be burning the midnight oil tonight," Herman said on Monday. "(We will be ) trying to figure out a way to score some points and hopefully hold them to something reasonable with that offense they have."