Saturday at Clemson, NC State will play arguably the biggest game in program history.

The Pack is No. 10 in the Associated Press poll, its first appearance among the top 10 since 2002. Clemson is No. 5, and it will be the first top-10 matchup in program history for NC State. ESPN’s “College GameDay” will be on site, and the winner will get a stranglehold on the ACC Atlantic Division lead.

“It’s 2 top-10 teams competing on a national stage,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said. “That’s why we do this. The kids have worked hard. The staff has worked hard, and we expected to be in this position.”

There are a lot of reasons for NC State’s ascension in 2022, but the main one is the wealth of experience on the roster. NC State has one of the oldest teams in the country, as the guys wearing the red and white for the Pack have played a whole lot of football over the years.

On defense, the Wolfpack’s 11 starters have 240 collegiate starts among them. On offense, the starting group has 216 starts combined. It’s an overwhelming strength of this team, and one that will be as important as ever as the Pack heads to Death Valley for the first time since 2018 in the nation’s premiere game of the weekend.

“I can’t make a guy have 47 starts. That’s something that takes time to accumulate,” Doeren said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that have played football. That’s good. They’ve been in big games. They’ve won big games. They bring a calmness to the locker room. They’re talking the right way.”

The outside noise for NC State is at an all-time high this week. People are talking about the Wolfpack and this game, and the hype is building and building as Saturday approaches.

In college football, that can get to a team. The sport is fun because it’s full of young and exciting players, but youth and inexperience can be the downfall of any team at the collegiate level. Especially when everyone is talking about them.

So for the Pack, having a team that has been there and done that heading into this weekend is huge. No, none of these guys at NC State have played a game this big. But they did beat Clemson at home last year, and they also experienced a loss in a quasi Atlantic Division title game against Wake Forest during 2021.

They’ve experienced the highs and lows, and the message for the Pack all season has been the same. NC State is worrying about only NC State. Of course, the Pack will watch film of Clemson, but the focus is inward for a 5th straight week.

“We’ll continue to focus on us,” Doeren said. “I think the path that has gotten us here is the path that we’ll continue to stay on. It’s individual and collective improvement through great practice and great meetings and taking care of business. We will focus on our opponent and know those guys, but more importantly we need to know what we need to get better at and get it done.”

For NC State, this week is about a lot of things. It’s about the Pack rising to the national stage, something that has been a long time in the making. It’s also about not letting the moment get too big. Doeren said he told the players to enjoy the moment but also to understand that.

Mainly, however, this week is about a single thing. Winning a football game. For NC State, that starts with leaning the veterans and taking care of business.

“We know it’s going to be a hostile environment,” wide receiver Devin Carter said. “We’re ready. We focus on ourselves. We play faceless opponents every week. We worry about ourselves, and that’s how we’re going to take on this week as well.”