VALDOSTA — Growing up, it is every young football player’s dream to play on a National Football League field.

This Saturday, the Valdosta State Blazers will get to fulfill that dream when they face the Angelo State Rams at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Yes, Cowboys Stadium, also known as Jerry’s World and known for being one of the largest and most expensive football stadiums ever built. The same place that hosted this year’s Super Bowl (Super bowl XLV) and the same place that two weeks ago featured one of the most highly anticipated college football games of the season — No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 5 Michigan.

The opportunity to play at Cowboys Stadium comes after the Blazers were invited to participate in the Lone Star Football Festival, a three-day football event featuring high school and college games.

The 18th-ranked Blazers (1-1) will face the Angelo State Rams (1-1) Saturday at 1 p.m. Eastern.

“You can’t help but talk about it,” Valdosta State head coach David Dean said. “As coaches, we are excited about going in there to a place where they played the Super Bowl, where the Cowboys play. Supposedly, it is one of the most magnificent stadiums to ever be built. So you can’t help but be excited about it.”

Although none of the players on the VSU roster have played in Cowboys Stadium, some have played in other NFL venues, like the Georgia Dome, which plays host to the Georgia High School Association’s state championship games every year in December.

Less than eight players participated in high school games at the Georgia Dome. Some that were lucky enough to play in the Dome include starters Seantavious Jones, Charles Morton and Jake Thomas.

Only Jones was lucky enough to win a state championship on the field the Atlanta Falcons call home. Jones was the starting wide receiver for Tucker when the Tigers claimed the Class AAAA state title with a 15-3 win over Marist.

“I’ll let (my teammates) know it is the same field, just a bigger stadium where more people can watch,” said Jones when asked what he will say to teammates about playing in a large NFL stadium.

Thomas played in the Georgia Dome when the GHSA still held the state semifinals there. A member of North Gwinnett’s football team, Thomas helped the Bulldogs beat Walton 31-7 to advance to the state championship, where they lost to the Lowndes Vikings ar Martin Stadium.

“It is just exciting,” Thomas said. “Everybody is a little more pumped up. It does get a little more hot on the field than people might anticipate.”

Morton, the Blazers’ two-year long snapper, is the only Blazer to play in the Georgia Dome twice. A member of Savannah Christian’s team from 2007-10, Morton was on the losing end of the 2009 and 2010 state championship games, losing his senior year to Clinch County.

“I’ve had great experiences,” Morton said of playing in the Georgia Dome. “I was lucky to play in a professional stadium in high school and it is even cooler that I get to play in a different one, in a different state, in college. It is going to be a great experience, knowing professional athletes play there.”

Experience of playing in the Georgia Dome is one thing. Playing at Cowboys Stadium where Eli Manning helped the New York Giants knock off Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl and where Jerry Jones counts his millions of dollars is a completely different thing.

For one, Cowboys Stadium has one of the largest video screens ever built, a 40-yard long video screen that sits directly above the playing surface. When meeting with media after Tuesday’s practice, players were asked what they would do if they owned a 40-yard video board. The answers were routinely similar: play video games and watch football.

“I’d do a little bit of both because you can probably split screen it,” Thomas laughed. “You can probably watch football on one and play video games on the other side”

“I’d probably Madden,” Jones said.

To help deal with the distractions, the Blazers plan on visiting Cowboys Stadium Friday once they arrive in the Dallas area. Although they are unable to hold a walk-through at the stadium, due to high school games scheduled throughout Friday, the Blazers will watch a portion of a game and walk throughout the stadium to help better learn their surroundings before warmups on Saturday.

Dean also said Valdosta State will extend its warm up period by a  few minutes so players can get used to playing inside a dome stadium.

“What I am more concerned with is when we are out here (on the practice field), we are looking up at the sky and when we play we see sky,” Dean said. “When we look up there, we are going to see stands and a roof. So that is going to be a little bit different, so we are going to take some extra time and go out catching kicks and to be sure we get the depth perception of all that. It is a little different.”

Fans making the trip to Dallas are encouraged to participate in the VSU fan tailgate prior to the game. The tailgate will be held in the Blue Lot at Cowboys Stadium, located at 900 E. Randol Mill Road in Arlington, Texas, and will begin at 10 a.m. local time. Kickoff for the game is 12 p.m. Central.

Food and drinks for the tailgate are on a first come, first serve basis.

Tickets for the event can be purchased at Cowboys Stadium or by calling the Valdosta State ticket office at (229) 333-5890.