AUBURN | Auburn has been officially eliminated from the SEC West race. There’s not even an outside shot of sneaking into the college football playoffs.

But the Tigers, 7-3 on the season and coming off a tough 21-14 loss to Georgia, still have some very important games left to play, which means it's time to reset their goals.

“When I look back at the game, I’m real proud of our team,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “The way they fought. We’re down 21 points in the fourth quarter. Our guys fought, got us back in the game, had some opportunities there towards the end to give us a chance to tie the game or whatever. What really stood to me was our fans. Our fans were unbelievable. They rolled their sleeves up and they were fighting for us. It was a great fourth quarter and atmosphere and everything that goes with that. Now we’ll turn the page.

“Our goal now is to win 10 games, which is extremely hard to do with the schedule like we have. Our guys are putting it behind us. We’ve got Samford coming up. I think there are some things we can take from that fourth quarter that can help us the rest of the season.”

A 10-win season means Auburn must close out the regular season with victories over Samford and No. 5 Alabama, and win a bowl game. Current projections have the Tigers playing in the Citrus or Outback Bowl against a Big Ten opponent such as Michigan, Wisconsin or Minnesota.

“Just finish strong,” said junior Noah Igbinoghene. “Coach came in here after the game and he was like, ‘I want us to win 10 games.’ That’s our new goal now. That’s what we’re focused on right now, just finishing off strong, not only for us but for our seniors.

“Just last two games here, so it’s going to be special, this game and the Alabama game, just finishing off strong for them. So that’s our new goal.

Auburn hosts Samford at Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday at 11 a.m. CT on SEC Network.