In an ESPN College Football segment with Rece Davis, Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian took the host of the Saturday pregame show on a walk around campus in Austin. It's the fifth-year man's way of decompressing in the morning and working to keep his heart healthy after undergoing surgery in 2020.

During the walk, Sarkisian told Davis his "ultimate goal" is to do what other athletic programs at the university have done over the years. It's tradition at Texas for the UT Tower to be lit up burnt orange and illuminated with a No. 1 whenever a team wins a national title. Once it's aglow, the teams will pose for a picture in front of it to commemorate it.

"Getting the tower lit up and the one on the tower is the ultimate," Sarkisian said. "As much as we're doing some great things, at the end of the day you want to be the one that's taking a picture with your team with that tower lit up with the one behind it.

"And that'll be a great moment, you know, and do I think about that moment? Of course, you know, but I can't get engulfed in that moment because the day-to-day operations matter too much to just daydream," Sarkisian said. "But it's good to have dreams. And like I tell the team all the time, the difference between dreams and reality is action. And so we've got to take action every day to get us closer to that dream."

The last two seasons, Texas has been 'this close' to a shot at a national championship.

In 2023, the Longhorns finished 12-2 and one win shy of a national championship – losing to Washington in the Sugar Bowl – CFP Semifinal. It's been 16 years since Texas was in a national title game. And this season is the 20th anniversary of the last time Austin celebrated a title. Is this year the time for Texas to return to a confetti party when the clock hits zero?

There have been causes for celebration, though. But, Sarkisian knows it's not enough and it's not the ultimate goal.

"We have to appreciate some of the successes that we've had along the way. And I don't forget the first college football playoff game in our stadium against Clemson. That was a wonderful day here," Sarkisian said. "I don't forget 4th and 13 in Atlanta, you know, Quinn Ewers and hitting Matt Golden for a touchdown and Andrew Makuba getting the interception. Like I don't forget those moments either."

"Because that that team was a special team that we had. And I don't forget the year before winning a Big 12 championship, right? And how long that drought had been and for us to win a Big 12 championship and to make it to the playoffs," Sarkisian said. "And so I try not to forget those things as as motivation of the good feelings that we had."

Longhorn nation…? pic.twitter.com/U8Go2jk0WH

— Michael Taaffe (@MichaelTaaffe4) January 15, 2025

Texas brings back the top defense in the country.

And for an offensive mind like Steve Sarkisian, it might be the defense which could be the key to getting back to the mountaintop.

All-Americans Anthony Hill Jr., Colin Simmons, and Michael Taaffe return to "finish the mission". Texas was extremely active in the transfer portal to reload up front after losing damn near the entirety of its front. Purdue’s Cole Brevard, North Carolina’s Travis Shaw, Ohio State’s Hero Kanu, and Syracuse's Maraad Watson are now in the burnt orange. They will be tasked with replacing Alfred Collins, Vernon Broughton, Jermayne Lole, and Bill Norton.

The front seven is as loaded as anyone across the country and with Taaffe leading the back end alongside Jelani McDonald, Malik Muhammad, and Jaylon Guilbeau, this year's Texas team could be eerily similar to last year's national champions.

Now, all they have to do is reach the "ultimate goal" and light up the tower.