Dabo Swinney called last year’s loss to Florida State the worst of his coaching career.

Clemson, who will host No. 16 Florida State on Saturday in Death Valley, dominated the Seminoles in every category, but one – the final score. The Tigers held Florida State to minus-12 yards rushing through regulation. Sacked quarterback Sean Maguire five times, and outgained the Seminoles by 90 yards.

Clemson, ranked No. 1 by the College Football Playoff Committee this past week, left at least 17 points on the field thanks to a bad pass, a missed field goal, a bad snap and a fumble inside the FSU 15 with less than two minutes to play.

“Those things stick out in your mind, when you lose games,” Swinney said. “The wins pile up and you enjoy all of them, but those losses stick out. That’s life.”

Florida State (7-1, 5-1 ACC) won the game on a 12-yard Karlos Williams touchdown in overtime. It followed another Clemson drive that ended in disappointment when quarterback Deshaun Watson was stopped on fourth-and-1 from the FSU 16.

“You have good days and you have bad days. Football teaches you how to respond in life,” Swinney said “You can mope and pout or you can do something about it and respond. Life’s about how you respond to what happens.”

The Tigers (8-0, 5-0 ACC) have responded by winning 17 of their last 18 games since, including an 11-game win streak. Clemson enters Saturday 3:30 p.m. tussle with an opportunity to clinch the ACC Atlantic Division Title with a win, while at the same time keep itself in firm control of its College Football Playoff chances.

“Every game is huge for us,” Swinney said. “I know I say that every week and sometimes people think we’re going to coast through some games. Every game is the Super Bowl every single week. But as you go through the season, the margin for error gets smaller.

“We don’t have to play Florida State to get excited about playing a game. And our fans don’t either. We sell out Wofford and App State. So let’s just get excited about playing. But am I pumped about being 8-0? Heck yeah. But if we were 4-4, I’d be just as excited about playing this week.”

The Seminoles are excited about playing, too, especially considering they will have all-world running back Dalvin Cook back in the mix. The sophomore is averaging 148.1 yards per game, which ranks second in the nation. He sat out last week’s win over Syracuse, but he is expected to be available for Saturday’s game in Death Valley.

Quarterback Everett Golson will also be available to play after sitting out last week with a concussion, but head coach Jimbo Fisher has not said whether Golson or backup Sean Maguire will start the game. Maguire threw for over 300 hundred yards and three touchdowns in their 45-21 win over the Orange.

“They’re not going to do anything different in their offense,” Swinney said. “They’re going to run the same concepts. So, we will prepare for what they do. It was different getting ready for Louisville because they were very different. But Florida State will be who they are. They’ve got a Florida State offense and they run it regardless.”

The last time Florida State came into Death Valley and played a highly ranked Clemson team, it left with a stunning 51-14 victory over the No. 3 Tigers. Some people wondered if Clemson was too nervous or just could not handle the success at the time.

“I don’t ever remember us being nervous going into a game,” Swinney said. “Our guys prepare each and every week. Unfortunately, we’ve lost a game or two over the last several years but it has not been because we were nervous.

“Last year, we had a really bad finish in Tallahassee and then we’ve won 17 out of 18,” he continued. “So we handled that adversity. Then we beat South Carolina and handled the success by winning the bowl game.”