The Furstenberg-S\'ark\"ozy theorem asserts that the difference set $E-E$ of a subset $E \subset \mathbb{ N}$ with positive upper density intersects the image set of any polynomial $P \in \mathbb{ Z}[n]$ for which $P(0)=0$. Furstenberg's approach relies on a correspondence principle and a polynomial version of the Poincar\'e recurrence theorem, which is derived from the ergodic-theoretic result that for any measure-preserving system $(X,\mathcal{ B},\mu,T)$ and set $A \in \mathcal{ B}$ with $\mu(A) > 0$, one has $c(A):= \lim_{ N \to \infty} \frac{ 1}{ N} \sum_{ n=1}^N \mu(A \cap T^{ -P(n)}A) > 0.$ The limit $c(A)$ will have its optimal value of $\mu(A)^2$ when $T$ is totally ergodic. Motivated by the possibility of new combinatorial applications, we define the notion of asymptotic total ergodicity in the setting of modular rings $\mathbb{ Z}/N\mathbb{ Z}$. We show that a sequence of modular rings $\mathbb{ Z}/N_m\mathbb{ Z}$, $m \in \mathbb{ N},$ is asymptotically totally ergodic if and only if $\mathrm{ lpf}(N_m)$, the least prime factor of $N_m$, grows to infinity. From this fact, we derive some combinatorial consequences, for example the following. Fix $\delta \in (0,1]$ and a (not necessarily intersective) polynomial $Q \in \mathbb{ Q}[n]$ such that $Q(\mathbb{ Z}) \subseteq \mathbb{ Z}$, and write $S = \{ Q(n) : n \in \mathbb{ Z}/N\mathbb{ Z}\}$. For any integer $N > 1$ with $\mathrm{ lpf}(N)$ sufficiently large, if $A$ and $B$ are subsets of $\mathbb{ Z}/N\mathbb{ Z}$ such that $|A||B| \geq \delta N^2$, then $\mathbb{ Z}/N\mathbb{ Z} = A + B + S$.
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