Gut-check time

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AUBURN, Ala. | Seven days removed from a blowout loss at LSU. Off to an 0-1 start in conference play. An offense and defense mired at the bottom of the national rankings.

Redshirt freshman Sean White making his first college start at quarterback. Carl Lawson, the team's best defensive player, out for an extended time.

Yea, it's gut-check time for Auburn.

"When you go through a little adversity, my experience is that championship teams roll up their sleeves and leaders emerge, and that's what we expect our guys to do," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "We're excited we're playing at home, and we're playing a good opponent, too. And that's good, too. I'm definitely eager to get our guys back on that football field in front of our home fans and play like we expect."

Mississippi State visits Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday night. A win and Auburn can point to the 2013 team that reeled off nine straight wins following an early-season loss at LSU.

A loss and the Tigers are in a big hole with four Top 25 teams left on the schedule plus trips to Kentucky and Arkansas.

"We need exactly what happened in 2013," Malzahn said. "Because when you're in this room with your team, it feels exactly like it did in 2013 after the LSU game. Nothing really feels different; it's just a matter now of our leaders need to emerge, and we need to get better."

Comparisons to the 2013 team, which won the SEC Championship and came within seconds of winning the BCS National Championship are a bit of a stretch. That team was led by quarterback Nick Marshall from the outset and lost by just two touchdowns to an LSU team that looked completely gassed late in the fourth quarter.

This year's team never challenged LSU and nearly lost to FCS Jacksonville State a week earlier.

"This is really where you see what type of leadership you have on the defense, what type of leadership you have on the team, how we're going to bounce back," senior cornerback Blake Countess said. "This game is as important as any game this season just because of what happened last week."

The defense will undergo a personnel shakeup after giving up 411 rushing yards to LSU. The offense will look for White to provide a spark after Jeremy Johnson committed seven turnovers in the first three games.

"I'm ready to go," White told AuburnTigers.com. "I feel like my teammates believe in me. I just want to go get a win for my team."

Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2.