After leading Texas to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff last year, the Longhorns open the 2025 season against the team who beat them and became the eventual National Champions.

Texas and Ohio State will kick off on Aug. 30 at noon on the Fox network. Thursday morning on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Former Alabama assistant and current Texas head coach Sarkisian compared the hype of that game to a matchup against Auburn when he was the QB coach at the University of Southern California.

“As an opener, the only one I can think of was when we went to Auburn,” Sarkisian said. “I want to say that was 2003 and that was Matt Leinhart’s first start. [Reggie Bush] and [LenDale White] were true freshman. And we went into Auburn, and they were a pretty high-ranked team.”

Auburn was the No. 6 team in the country and USC was ranked No. 8. Leinart’s first career pass went for a redzone touchdown, leading the Trojans to a 23-0 shutout victory.

That win for USC kicked off the first of back-to-back national title-winning seasons and eventual Heisman Trophies for Leinhart and Bush during their college careers.

The Tigers finished that season 8-5 overall, beating Wisconsin in the Music City Bowl.

Jerry Humphrey III covers Auburn sports forAL.com. You can follow him on X at @Jerryhump3or email him at [email protected].