When the OU football team takes the field against Florida State on Saturday, it will be the first time the two teams have faced off since the 2000 Orange Bowl when the Sooners won the national championship.

That fact isn’t lost on OU players and coaches, especially not coach Bob Stoops and quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel, who was the starting quarterback for OU’s most recent championship team.

Before the 2000 title game, OU hadn’t won a national championship since 1985, and the program had been relatively down. The win launched Stoops’ career and returned the program to national prominence.

“You look at this place, and it wasn’t built on just one team,” Heupel said. “But that game definitely jump-started the success we’ve had in this decade.

Stoops said he developed a respect for Florida State’s football program early on in his coaching career, saying he even followed them when he was at Kansas State.

When he was defensive coordinator at Florida from 1996-98, Stoops said he saw Florida State up close every year and gained a familiarity with the style of the program.

“They’re different now, because that was a long time ago,” Stoops said. “But you sure get an understanding of their personality.”

This year’s players also understand the importance of that championship game played almost 10 years ago, and the meaning it adds to Saturday’s game.

Junior linebacker Travis Lewis was in elementary school when the Sooners won their last national championship, and while he said he doesn’t remember it, he also said it adds to the excitement of the marquee game.

“That’ll spice it up a little, put some jalapeño on it,” Lewis said. “None of us (players) played in that national championship game, but some of the coaches were there so it is a pride thing.”

Even without the history between the two teams, Saturday’s game is important on the national scale for several reasons. Two ranked teams with championship aspirations will collide in Norman, with the loser falling behind in the BCS race.

For OU, it will be a game that will give the players an opportunity to show they can play better than they did in the opener against Utah State, and also to defend the home field, where the Sooners have won 31 straight games.

“Any team that comes into our stadium; that’s personal,” Lewis said. “We don’t want to disappoint the fans or each other, and we don’t want to lose. We believe that in that stadium, we’re unbeatable and it’s no different when Florida State comes in here.”

Lewis said he and the rest of the team are aware of the home winning streak that is on the line Saturday.

“I haven’t lost at home since I’ve been here,” Lewis said.

The Sooners will defend their home winning streak and look to keep their championship hopes alive at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Game Information

No. 10 Oklahoma

Last week: 31-24 victory over Utah State Aggies

Key players: QB Landry Jones, RB DeMarco Murray, WR Ryan Broyles and LB Travis Lewis

No. 17 Florida State

Last week: 59-6 victory over the Samford Bulldogs

Key players: QB Christian Ponder, DE Markus White, WR Bert Reed and RB Jermaine Thomas

Why the Sooners could win:

The sub par game against Utah State should light a fire under OU. Plus, the 31-game home winning streak makes an FSU victory a tough task.

Why the Seminoles could win:

The matchup of FSU's Christian Ponder against the Sooners' secondary could prove to be costly to OU.