The Saturday after Thanksgiving, or the one before? I was in Newman that year, but I don't remember what they did with us. They were fairly flexible if you gave them warning from what I remember re: coming back early if you needed to do so.
A friend and I were talking about this "Rivalry Week" thing and how it's all ESPN-fueled. Because they want Rivalry Week right before championship games, it screws a lot of people out of being able to go to the game. Kids are usually off campus (even if they're living in apartments) to spend time with their family for the holiday and the students who are left aren't often the ones that really care about football since they didn't grow up watching it, so they're unlikely to attend. It leads to a flatter atmosphere than usual for a game like this, which sucks all around.