ATLANTA — The Texas Longhorns were in Atlanta less than a month ago, playing for a championship.

That one didn’t go as planned.

Now, the Longhorns get an A-T-L do-over when they face Arizona State at the Peach Bowl in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game on New Year’s Day.

Fifth-seeded Texas (12-2) insists it has gotten over the disappointment of losing an overtime thriller to Georgia on Dec. 7, a result that denied the Longhorns a title in their debut season as a member of the SEC.

“Of course we’re going to kind of feel that a little bit, but we kind of want to move on and just get ready for Arizona State,” Texas linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. said. “They’re a good football team and we kind of don’t want to think about that (Georgia) game all over again.”

The Longhorns showed no signs of a hangover when they held off Clemson in the opening round of the expanded 12-team playoff.

If they can knock off Arizona State — Texas is a two-touchdown favorite — it will be back to their home state for a semifinal game against either Oregon or Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.

Fourth-seeded Arizona State (11-2) has been one of the nation’s most surprising teams.

The Sun Devils went 3-9 a year ago in Kenny Dillingham’s first season as head coach. Making the move from the disintegrating Pac-12 to the 16-team Big 12, Arizona State was picked to finish dead last this season.

Instead, it was tied with three other teams for the top spot during the regular season and claimed the title all to itself in the Big 12 championship game, rolling past Iowa State.

This is a chance for Arizona State to prove to everyone that its stunning season was no fluke.

“We’re going to face one of the best teams in the country, if not the best team in the country,” Dillingham said Tuesday on the eve of the game. “It’s a really tall task for our guys. But by the same token, if you’re a competitor, you want to compete versus the very best in the best environments.”

Ewers vs. Leavitt

Quinn Ewers has a stellar resume as the Texas quarterback.

Sam Leavitt is out to prove he’s the better man.

The Arizona State QB has been a major reason for his team’s unexpected success. He’s eager for a head-to-head showdown with Ewers, who has passed for 2,867 yards and 26 touchdowns this season.

Leavitt has put up similar numbers, with 2,663 yards and 24 TDs.

“I’m just excited for the opportunity,” he said. “People keep counting me out since Day 1, and I’m going to go prove why I’m the better quarterback.”

Skattebo’s big stage

Cam Skattebo is Arizona State’s biggest star, a bowling ball of a running back who has become one of the rare players in FBS history to put up more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage.

He doesn’t lack for confidence, either, calling himself the best runner in all of college football.

The Peach Bowl provides a prime opportunity to back up his bravado, especially against a defense that has struggled with missed tackles.

“I feel like I’m the best,” Skattebo said. “I’m excited to play those guys because I’m going to present to them something new that they haven’t seen before. I’m excited, and hopefully they’re ready to play some football.”

Exes from Texas

The Longhorns will see plenty of familiar faces when they look across the line.

A half-dozen players on Arizona State’s overhauled roster used to play at Texas. They all ended up in Tempe through the transfer portal.

The list of ex-Longhorns players also includes receivers Jake Smith and Troy Omeire, defensive back Xavion Alford, defensive ends J’Mond Tapp and Prince Dorbah, and defensive tackle Zac Swanson.

“All those guys, obviously, they’ll be extra fired up to play the Longhorns,” Texas defensive back Michael Taaffe said. “Anytime you leave a school and you know some people, it’s always fun to play those guys.”

Dillingham said the Texas transfers have made a huge impact on the Arizona State program.

“We know what we’re getting when we’re getting a guy from that program, and that’s a guy who has worked really hard, competed and been pushed,” the Sun Devils coach said. ”Those are the things that we like to bring in.”

Turning it over

Turnovers usually play a key role in big games. It will be interesting to see how that works out in the Peach Bowl.

Arizona State has coughed up the ball only eight times, tied for the second-fewest turnovers in the FBS. Texas, on the other hand, has forced a nation-leading 29 turnovers.

Dillingham said it will be important to keep the pocket clean around Leavitt.

“It all starts with pass rush,” he said. “They get pass rush, they get tipped balls. Their defensive line gets in throwing windows.”

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian praised Skattebo and the rest of the Sun Devils for losing only three fumbles all year, to go along with five interceptions.

“You just don’t not fumble the ball. You work at not fumbling the ball,” Sarkisian said. “They’ve done a great job of controlling football games by not turning it over.”

Suspended star

Arizona State will have to play the first half without star defensive back Shamari Simmons, who is suspended for the first two quarters after being ejected for targeting in the Big 12 championship game.

“Shamari is a leader on our team,” Alford said. “It’s very unfortunate that he’s not going to be with us in the first half in the game, but he’ll still be there as a leader and as a teammate on the sidelines and things of that nature.”

Redshirt freshman Montana Warren will take Simmons’ spot in the lineup during the first half.

“God always has a plan, and I just feel like his plan right now is just basically showing who Montana Warren is to the world,” Simmons said. “He’s going to be a great defensive back for Arizona State for a long time coming.”

Knife-wielding Tren de Aragua gang members are mobbing border crossings at El Paso, Texas, in an attempt to break into the US — and have said they will attack border guards who try to stop them, according to a shocking Texas law enforcement memo leaked to The Post.

Last week, 20 of the Venezuelan gangbangers — armed with blades, tire irons and broken liquor bottles — tried to force their way into the US at a border gate, the missive from the Texas Department of Public Safety read.

Another attempt to break through is expected for New Year’s Day, the memo warned.

The brutal prison gang is becoming increasingly more desperate to seed more members into the US before President-elect Donald Trump takes over, said Victor Avila, a retired agent for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

“You’re seeing that violence at the border because they know that it’s going to change in 27 days. It’s going to change. It’s going to be different, and they’re going to be sought after,” he told The Post.

Texas authorities were alerted to the gangbangers’ attempts to force their way into the US by an anonymous informant, who said the violent border break-ins by the gang “would continue every night” at around 3 a.m.

The tipster said the gang intends to “cause harm” to the Texas National Guard soldiers who are stationed there — “especially when they are left alone with no agents” to help them.

A Texas law enforcement source told The Post that “gunfire has picked up big time” along the El Paso border in recent days, adding that authorities have also had to fire more pepperballs at groups trying to breach the border.

DPS didn’t immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

The renewed violence is centered just a few miles down the border wall from where The Post witnessed a violent El Paso border riot on March 21.

In that assault, more than 200 illegal migrants broke through razor wire and dash to the wall. Some of them brutally assaulted Texas National Guard soldiers in the melee.

At least one of the rioters was seen stomping on a service member’s knee as the group tried to break through.

El Paso is a headquarters for Tren de Aragua — with many members passing through the border town before heading out for other areas of the country — including New York City and Aurora, Colorado.

Avila, the retired DHS agent, said the gang has successfully “teamed up” with the cartel on the Mexican side of the border to conduct smuggling operations.

The latest warning of the gang’s increased violence is linked an anti-American ideology that Avila compared to terrorist groups.

“I think that TdA is coming in with an instruction from their home country. And I think that their ideology is more of a terrorist ideology of destruction,” said Avila.

“They hate the United States just like terrorists do and they will kill, destroy, take over businesses, take over stores and take over apartment complexes, do whatever they have to do to destroy our way of life in the US,” he added.

In September, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared TdA a foreign terrorist organization and revealed that more than 100 of the rioters witnessed by The Post in March were believed to be members of the Venezuelan gang.

The state also deployed additional state law enforcement resources to tackle the gang’s growing presence in the Lone Star State.

Abbott also instituted a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence for TdA smugglers moving migrants into Texas.

“Texas is aggressively going after these foreign terrorist organizations of TdA,” the governor declared at the time.

“Our goal among law enforcement in the state of Texas is to defend our state from the growing threat of TdA. We are not going to allow them to use Texas as a base of operations to terrorize our citizens,” he fumed.

McKINNEY — Alexi Kavrazonis, the owner of Wash Guys Lube Auto Center in McKinney, has been doing state inspections for years, handling about 25 to 40 a day.

“The safety portion of your inspection checks your tires, your brakes, your lights, your mirrors to make sure that your car is safe for driving on the road,” said Kavrazonis.

But starting Jan. 1, it won’t be a requirement before registration for non-commercial vehicles.

“I didn’t like it… not for the seven dollars that it cost the consumer but for the safety concern,” said Kavrazonis.

Emissions tests will still be required in the state’s 17 largest counties, including Dallas, Collin, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, and Tarrant counties.

“You’re only checking for the pollution. They’re only caring if the car is polluting the air, but in the meantime, they’re forgoing the safety of every driver on the road,” said Kavrazonis.

He worries the lack of inspections will make Texas roads less safe.

“You could have a car next to you, the tires are bald, especially when it’s raining. He won’t be able to stop on time. There are a lot of concerns,” said Kavrazonis.

But supporters of the change disagree. State Senator Bob Hall sponsored the bill.

“It has no purpose and has no useful benefit,” said Hall. “Windshield wipers don’t cause accidents, and it’s a stretch to say a turn signal would cause an accident.”

Kavrazonis says you can always bring your car into your local car shop to make sure your car is road-ready and safe.

“The onus of responsibility is now on every single driver. If they have a broken tail light, their signal lights don’t work, or their tires are bald, they could literally get pulled over by the police,” said Kavrazonis.

State inspections are still required for commercial vehicles. The Insurance Council of Texas said it likely won’t affect insurance rates because companies don’t have any record of the inspection or inspection results, and it’s not a factor when determining individual rates.