It hasn't been played since Nov. 24, 2011, but the Texas and Texas A&M rivalry is still one of the most contended topics in college football.

Many fans want it back, players want it back and it appears both Texas head coach Charlie Strong and Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin want the rivalry game back, according to a story from ESPN.

The annual matchup stopped when the Aggies left the Big 12 to join the SEC in 2012.

"That game is so much a part of this state," Strong told ESPN. "Over 100 years, we've played that game. Why stop it now because we're in different conferences? At some point, when it's right for everybody with the different schedules, I would love to play Texas A&M again."

Sumlin, who is entering his fourth season as Texas A&M's head coach, had similar sentiments.

"Now, moving into Year 4 and listening to our former students and our alumni base and knowing a lot of Texas alums, it's important that we play again," Sumlin told ESPN. "I think it will happen somewhere down the road. The tough part for both parties, when we moved, was scheduling. The first two years we scrambled just to get anybody to play, and the SEC hadn't solidified their schedule until last year. We were at the mercy of whoever would play us.

"Now that we've solidified what the SEC's scheduling theory is going to be, you've seen us become more aggressive with our nonconference schedule, and that was the knock on us early on. People sometimes take scheduling for granted and say, 'Play this team.' They don't know the process. But I think the Texas series will happen. I just don't know when."

The rivalry between the two schools dates back to 1894; Texas holds an all-time series lead of 76–37–5. The game was traditionally hosted on the day of or the day after Thanksgiving, but both programs have replaced each other on the schedule for that week. Texas A&M now plays LSU while Texas has rotated between Texas Tech and TCU.

There hasn't been any movement on the gridiron to restore the rivalry, at least yet, but the two schools have met a few times in other sports. The women's basketball programs met this past season, while the baseball teams are scheduled to meet in 2016 and 2017, according to the Dallas Morning News.

"Can you imagine Florida not playing Florida State or South Carolina not playing Clemson?" Strong said. "We all love to see those games. Within the state, it would have such a buildup. It's a game that needs to be played."

Texas men's athletic director Steve Patterson, who is in his second season on the job, has said in the past scheduling Texas A&M "isn't at the top of his list." Texas A&M senior associate athletic director Jason Cook, shortly after Paterson was hired, said he hopes the two schools can play "again in a BCS bowl or playoff game at some point."

"It becomes, 'What's important to fans and former students and alums of Texas A&M and the University of Texas,'" Sumlin said. "That's what matters."

As for Strong, he said he needs to win some games before pushing the idea up the Texas Athletics administration system.

"Let me win some games first," he said. "Then I can push it. I don't know if I want to go walking into College Station right now."

You can read the entire ESPN story here