WATCH: Matthew McConaughey sends message to Texas fans before Red River Showdown

Steve Sarkisian and No. 21 Texas will be in the national spotlight this week, as the Longhorns play No. 6 Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl — and Texas alumnus/Longhorns fan Matthew McConaughey wants to see the fans perform as well as the team.

College GameDay will be in attendance for the Red River Showdown, and Texas will look for its first win over rival Oklahoma since 2018. It’s a huge game for Sarkisian, who will experience the Texas-Oklahoma rivalry for the first time as the Longhorns’ head coach. And McConaughey wants to make sure the first-year head coach receives more than enough support from Texas faithful.

“It’s time to head to Dallas and kick some OU backside,” McConaughey said in a video posted to Twitter. “You know what I’m talking about; you know they’re going to be bringing their best this Saturday. They’re not going to give it to us, we have to go there and take it from them. You are part of that taking.”

McConaughey continued to note in the video that this game is an “all hands on deck operation for Longhorn nation,” and he asked Texas fans to be the louder of the two fanbases come Saturday.

To Longhorn Nation@utaustin @texasfootball @texaslonghorns pic.twitter.com/szpas7RCSw

— Matthew McConaughey (@McConaughey) October 7, 2021

Sarkisian on Bijan Robinson’s workload in Texas backfield

If the five-game start to the Texas-Sarkisian era is any indication, the Longhorns will lean on Bijan Robinson, the star running back, to produce en masse for the offense to be successful. But after taking 35 carries last week, it’s fair to question whether Sarkisian can expect Robinson to turn in a repeat performance.

Sarkisian on Monday was asked about Robinson’s workload, and he made it clear the Longhorns’ staff will be careful.

“We’ll monitor it,” Sarkisian said of Robinson’s workload. “I think between myself, [running backs coach Stan Drayton] and [offensive coordinator Kyle Flood], we’ve got a lot of experience with dealing with running backs and workloads and how to manage that, [dealing with] specific days and build-up to the game.

“So, we’ll definitely manage it; we’ll monitor it. But Bijan feels great, if you ask him. I think he feels really good, I think he came out of the game extremely healthy.”

Quarterback Casey Thompson struggled at times last week against TCU, but he got it done when it mattered most. Thompson finished the game completing 12 of his 22 passing attempts, throwing for 142 yards and a touchdown, while also throwing an interception. He wasn’t perfect, but he did enough to push Texas to victory. Sarkisian said his starting quarterback “had a gritty game” last week in the narrow victory — a victory the Longhorns would not have achieved if not for Robinson.

It was Robinson, not Thompson, that willed Texas to victory. The bell cow back took those 35 carries for a whopping 216 rushing yards and two touchdowns, carrying the Longhorns to a 32-27 final.

“He’s obviously in really good physical condition,” Sarkisian said of Robinson. “That helps. That was something we had challenged him early on, coming out of spring ball. Physically and mentally preparing himself for those kind of games, when those games would come up. And he responded extremely well, he really did. And I know there was a level of fatigue there late in the fourth quarter, but I think we can always dig deeper.”