AUBURN | No. 7 Auburn played a physical game at Texas A&M last weekend. It’ll be a physical game next Saturday at No. 9 Florida and there are more physical matchups ahead with three top five teams on the schedule.

Oh, and you better believe it will be a physical matchup when the Tigers take on Mississippi State Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“That’s just part of it in the SEC,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “I mean, every time we play Mississippi State, it doesn’t matter if it’s 2009, ’10 or this year, it’s a physical game. That’s just part of the rivalry and it’s part of playing a good team. And last week was a physical game, there’s no doubt about it. We knew that when we signed up.

“If you’re in this league, each week, it’s going to be physical. You’ve got to prepare for that, and I think our guys are prepared for that, conditioning-wise. I think we’ve got the guys that can do it. We’ve just got to get out there and execute it and do it.”

From an injury standpoint, Auburn should be in better shape than a week earlier when left tackle Prince Tega Wanogho, wide receiver Seth Williams and defensive tackle Derrick Brown were questionable going into the Texas A&M game.

All three played and all three appear to be even better as the Tigers prepare to play the second of seven consecutive conference games.

The Bulldogs are 3-1 on the season with wins over Louisiana, Southern Miss and Kentucky last Saturday, and a 31-24 loss to Kansas State. MSU running back Kylin Hill leads the SEC with 551 yards and five touchdowns on 91 carries.

“You look at their offense, their running back, he’s a real deal. He’s one of the best in the country,” Malzahn said. “Can break tackles. He’s explosive. Runs with great pad level. And the quarterback can run. He’s a run threat, just like the guy they had last year. We expect him to do that. Of course we also expect them to have some play-action passes. They’ve got some receivers that are pretty dynamic.

“Defensively, they’re leading our league in takeaways. That’s really what stands out to me. They’re very opportunistic. They get after you. They’re a very aggressive team. Just like last week, there’s probably a good chance we’ll see quite a bit of pressure with our freshman quarterback. So we’ve got to have answers for that.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.

“Really looking forward to playing in front of our crowd with everybody bringing their A-game. This is a big game,” Malzahn said.