Give it the old college try

When I was a kid, the only time I ever heard the phrase "give it the old college try" was when my mom's friend Karen would bring her two daughters to visit. Before they'd leave for the 3-hour car ride home, she'd always ask if they had to use the bathroom, and they'd always say no, and then she'd say, "Well, give it the old college try."
I was a pretty shy kid, so I didn't ask anyone, but I devoted a lot of time to trying to figure out what peeing had to do with college. And then when I was actually in college, someone in a class said (I forget about what topic), that the company we were discussing should "give it the old college try." And I said, "what does this have to do with peeing?"

As we are trapped inside for 3 weeks under quarantine, we are finding ourselves giving a lot of things the old college try. Ironically, potty training is at the top of the list. Maybe our confusion over this term will be a generational thing?