Three years ago, Texas football stormed into Tuscaloosa, Alabama and decisively beat the Crimson Tide. The streets of West Campus rang. Students celebrated at the Tower and partied into the early hours of the next day.

It was one of my most memorable nights of college, and it felt like a win that finally put Texas back into the national conversation.

Since then, Texas has made the College Football Playoff semifinals and bagged its fair share of major wins. But with the Ohio State Buckeyes coming to Austin, the Longhorns have the chance to recreate that magical night from 2023.

Though this game has the potential to be a legacy game for them, that doesn’t necessarily mean the Longhorns should practice or, more importantly, play like it on Saturday.

Texas can’t feed into that pressure. That’s easier said than done, especially when approaching a game against a high-caliber team like Ohio State. The default approach would be to chase after another identity and replicate what other teams do to be good. However, it’s not about changing or having this sudden, quick transformation. It’s about whether this specific Texas team can maximize what it does best.

“My goal is, for the players, that they really shouldn’t change,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “They don’t have to do more. What they have to do is do what we’re asking them to do to the highest level, and that’ll put them in the best position to be successful.”

Sarkisian repeatedly emphasized that just because the Longhorns are playing a team like Ohio State doesn’t mean everything needs to change. This being a “big game” doesn’t require an outlier week in the team’s preparation, identity or style of play — it has been a philosophy he’s had his team embrace all week.

The Longhorns don’t need to try to turn into 2019 LSU, 2001 Miami or even 2005 Texas. That only adds more unnecessary pressure to what is already the biggest game of the season. Senior quarterback Arch Manning doesn’t need to be a superhero.

For Texas, it’s about playing calm, complementary and clean football. The Longhorns historically play at their best when they limit pre-snap penalties, establish an explosive run game early and open up the playbook.

But none of the pieces of the X’s and O’s can come together if there is lack of composure.

“It comes down to execution,” Sarkisian said. “It comes down to mental and physical toughness. It comes down to poise and composure, and doing what you need to do and owning the moment when that moment presents itself.”

The players shouldn’t approach this matchup as a “revenge game.” Emotions and the will to win are great but won’t be the saving grace. They’re great for pregame hype and running out of the tunnel, but those emotions need to be contained once the ball is kicked off, because they can become a distraction instead of a driving factor.

It feels like the Longhorns need this game more than Ohio State, yet Sarkisian and company don’t need to become someone else to beat the Buckeyes — rather, the most polished, disciplined and confident version of themselves.

That is exactly what the Longhorns did three years ago in Tuscaloosa. They reaped the benefits then, and can again on Saturday.