DALLAS- Brent Venables knows a thing or two about great games.

From his days at Kansas State, to his first stint at Oklahoma, to the past decade at Clemson, Venables has taken part in a plethora of national title games, conference championship games and classic rivalries.

But, in his mind, one game stands out above the rest.

“In all of my games that I’ve been in, and I’ve been in big steps, eight national championships, 19 conference championships, nobody matters, but there’s nothing like coming down that fucking ramp in the Cotton Bowl,” Venables told the crowd at an OU Coaches Caravan stop in Dallas last week.

Venables, who coached the Red River Showdown every year from 1999 to 2011 as an assistant for Oklahoma, noted the emotion of the annual Sooners-Longhorns game as what sets him apart.

“The passion, the intensity, the love, the hate,” Venables said. “The hate is real. You must have hate in your heart when talking about this game.

Speculation has run rampant in recent years over whether or not the game might at some point be moved out of the Cotton Bowl and the Texas State Fair, but it appears Venables would be adamantly opposed to a venue change.

Because he, like many Oklahoma and Texas fans, sees the place and time of the game as part of the pageantry of what makes the game so special.

“It’s an amazing venue,” Venables said. “Great platform, ABC. 11:00. No one (needs) to remind the Sooners when and where this game is going to be.

While the Sooners will go through many changes in the coming years as they transition to the SEC, Texas making the transition from the conference is also helping to keep one of the major rivalries in the sport intact.

Something Venables says Oklahoma is very lucky to be part of and won’t take for granted.

“It’s one of the most storied and lore-rich rivalries in college football history,” Venables said. “We are really proud to be part of it.”