AUBURN | It’s not how anyone associated with Auburn wanted to go into Iron Bowl week.

Coming off one of the worst losses in program history, the Tigers begin preparations for a No. 8 Alabama team that’s won nine consecutive games and is fighting for a playoff berth.

“You love to say forget about it and all that, but you do need to think about what the heck just happened tonight,” said quarterback Payton Thorne of the 31-10 loss to New Mexico State in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“And you need to watch, we need to watch the film tonight and then if you need to review it tomorrow morning, do it, and then we move on.”

Auburn was dominated by the Aggies in all three phases. NMSU totaled 414 yards including 213 on the ground. They held AU to 213 total yards and just 65 rushing.

NMSU had a 38:50 time of possession and limited AU to just 45 offensive plays.

On special teams, NMSU executed a perfect fake punt at the start of the fourth quarter on its own 42-yard line that gained 23 yards and set up a touchdown to go up 24-10.

The loss ends AU’s hard-fought three-game winning streak and comes just a week after the Tigers’ biggest win of the season, a 48-10 shellacking of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

Now, it falls upon Hugh Freeze, his coaching staff and AU’s leadership to find a way to get the team back up and motivated for the annual clash against the Tide.

“It'll test us,” said Freeze. “This is something that I hope sits in the craw of our stomach and makes us sick and gives us a reminder for the future that you have to earn your right to win a football game every single time you're out.”

Senior defensive back Jaylin Simpson said his message to his teammates will be to finish strong. Auburn has a chance to win its seventh game for the first time since 2019.

“It doesn't matter what happened tonight. It doesn't matter what happened in Arkansas. It doesn't matter what happened in LSU, whatever. Alabama is the next opponent and that's who we play and that's our only focus right now,” said Simpson.

Kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS.