SALT LAKE CITY — Call it whatever you will: the Holy War, The Rivalry (with a capital T), or just the BYU-Utah game; there’s still little doubt the in-state series between the Cougars (1-0) and Utes (1-0) that hearkens back to the 19th century is the most important game in the Beehive State.

The reason is simple, and it doesn’t necessarily have to do with religion, coaches or animosity between fans.

The rivalry, which Utah leads 55-31-4 all-time, divides families: Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, close friends and co-workers; everyone knows someone on “the other side," as the video below from local business Lendio illustrates.

Take BYU safety Kai Nacua, for example. When the senior defensive back looks across the sideline Saturday, he’ll see little brother Sampson. The younger Nacua was a prep star at Timpview High before signing with the Utes, and he saw immediate playing time in Utah’s season opener against Southern Utah last week.

One of the most competitive players on the BYU roster, Kai Nacua still wants to win.

“If he does get in, I told him to keep his head on a swivel,” the Las Vegas native said in jest. “I may have to leave my assignment.”

Plenty of BYU players have experience with the rivalry game, which will mark its first regular-season appearance since 2013 at 5 p.m. MT on Fox. But no BYU player has celebrated a win for the royal blue-clad visitors, no matter how long they’ve been in Provo.

The closest is senior defensive end Harvey Langi, who rushed for 33 yards for the Utes as a true freshman in 2011 before serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Bingham High product knows what this game means to the players, to the fans, and to the state of Utah.

“It’s going to be fun,” said Langi, who had four tackles against Utah last December in Las Vegas. “Going up there first, switching over here; my feelings toward it is that it is going to be a fun game. It’s the rivalry game; everyone is excited, and I’m just as excited as the fans or even a little bit more.”

Quarterback Taysom Hill will start in his fourth rivalry game for the Cougars, and he still remembers his first in 2012 as a freshman. The 26-year-old signal-caller hopes the Cougars’ 35-28 loss in the Las Vegas Bowl will be the last defeat to Utah he has to face.

It would be hard to match the intensity of his first taste of the matchup, though.

“They rushed the field, we kicked another one, hit the upright and lost,” said Hill, whose team lost 24-21. “I know what it’s like to be that close and not come out on the winning end. We’ll prepare the best that we can and make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”

Running back Jamaal Williams scored the first touchdown of his college career against Utah when he was just 18 years old. Now a fifth-year senior like Hill, the California native had to be taught what BYU-Utah is all about from veteran stars like Kyle Van Noy.

“He was giving us a big speech, and I was like, ‘yeah, this might be a rivalry,’” Williams recalled. “This is the rivalry for BYU and Utah. It was my first touchdown, too.”

Williams, like Hill, doesn’t want to end his career without a win over the Utes.

“It’s just great to have those type of things,” Williams said. “I can’t wait to play and make it a big win for our BYU fans.”

Even the newcomers of 2016 have been taught what the game means, and the environment they’ll see at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

“It’ll be loud, and probably pretty mean. But sticks and stones, right?” said Snow College transfer Jonah Trinnaman, who prepped at American Fork High. “It’s football, and people will try to get in your head. It’s nothing new. I expect it to be loud and hostile. I’m excited. It should be fun.”

Tight end Hunter Marshall grew up in Georgia, redshirted a season at Georgia Tech, then moved to Utah for a season at Snow before transferring to play at BYU.

Still, he knows what the big game means on the Wasatch Front. His mother hails from Utah, and his father used to take him fishing near his grandparents’ home in the Kamas, Utah, area. His brother coaches at Provo High, too, so the Holy War is quickly becoming a family affair.

“I have a lot of family here,” Marshall said. “I heard a lot about how crazy it gets.

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Tim Patrick has had no problem embracing the hatred for BYU. Patrick said he wants to beat the Cougars down in his one and only time against the rivals from the south. But he does have a soft spot for one of the boys in royal blue: Cougar wide receiver Nick Kurtz happens to be his former teammate from Grossmont College.

“I have cousins who went to the U., others went to the Y., and they tell me about the game. The coaches have definitely let us know that it’s going to be a little hostile there. But we’ve got to focus in on what we’ve got to do, execute our plays and focus on playing our game.”

So, how does he feel about adding his name to rivalry lore?

“I’m way excited,” Marshall said. “It’s going to be a way fun game.”

BYU coach Kalani Sitake spent 10 years as an assistant under Kyle Whittingham, eventually rising to assistant head coach. But after a year at Oregon State, Sitake returned to coach at his alma mater — the same school where Whittingham starred as a linebacker in the '80s.

That’s what makes the BYU-Utah game fun, Sitake said. It’s a historic contest that involves family members, often on separate sides. It doesn’t have to be vitriolic, he continued.

“When it gets into the home, it becomes fun,” Sitake said. “But I don’t think it is as nasty as others think. There are a lot of friendships and a lot of fun behind it all.”

Sitake’s respect for his mentor is apparent in the ways he speaks of Whittingham with admiration.

“I will never say anything bad about the University of Utah, about the athletic program, or especially about the football team,” he said. “They were so good to me.”

Sitake plans to shake hands with several friends, including Utah fans at the stadium, before the game. He’ll hug Whittingham and other friends like Aaron Roderick and Justin Ena after the game. But for 60 minutes, his Cougars will fight.

And his starting quarterback wouldn’t have it any other way.

“This is what it’s all about. These are the situations you cannot replicate,” Hill said. “I love playing in hostile environments, and it doesn’t get any more hostile than this.”

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