For four years, Elijah McAllister ran out of the tunnel at his home stadium in Nashville and never saw a stadium full with the black and gold Vanderbilt colors he wore. He’s human, of course that bothered him.

There’s a different type of exhilarating feeling, he said, when running out of the tunnel to the 88,000-plus fans at Jordan-Hare Stadium — his new home field — all cheering loudly for him. In Auburn, there is a home-field advantage Vanderbilt never had.

“I get that exhilarating feeling when I’m here, and I didn’t get that at my previous school,” McAllister said Monday. “Obviously, it’s a little difficult, every time you go out there and play and there’s not a lot of people rooting you on.”

McAllister played at Vanderbilt for his four years as an undergraduate. He played 36 games and was a two-time team captain. Then, as a graduate, he transferred to Auburn for this season. He quickly became a team captain at Auburn, too, and served an important rotational and leadership role as a pass-rushing jack linebacker on this defense.

This week, he’s going back. Auburn plays Vanderbilt in Nashville on Saturday. The game will kick off at 3 p.m. central time and will be aired on the SEC Network.

“On a personal level, I think it’ll be like playing backyard football with some of your best friends,” McAllister said. “A lot of shared experience with the guys on that roster. I’m just excited to go over there, play against some of my best friends and get a win. So I’m excited.”

McAllister said there isn’t any standoff between himself and his old teammates this week. He’s been in touch with them as he always has been since he left — though of course leaving any game plan conversations kept tight within Auburn’s football building.

However, this game will be the first time McAllister has seen most of his former Vanderbilt teammates since he left. He did get to see former Vanderbilt quarterback Mike Wright last week as he started for Mississippi State in a game Auburn won 27-13. McAllister called that a good “tune-up” for this week.

The stadium he’ll be returning too, though, does not exactly resemble the one he may remember.

Vanderbilt is playing home games despite significant construction in both endzones of its stadium. The seating capacity in Nashville before the project was just over 40,000 people. Now, the number is closer to 28,000.

The project means a scoreboard suspended by cranes behind one endzone. It means a visiting locker room that is quite literally a tent, though it does have showers and air conditioning.

“I’ve heard the stories, I’ve seen the pictures and just hearing from them is unique,” McAllister said. “I think for guys on this roster, I don’t think any of them have played there. It’ll be a different experience for them playing in that stadium just because we’re used to there being all these fans for us here at Jordan-Hare. It’s the best fans in the country. It’ll be a lot different playing there. We just have to have a professional approach to it, honestly. I’ve played many games there, so it’ll be different.”

Yet even in all the weirdness of Vanderbilt football this year, this will essentially be the first time McAllister has played what will feel like a home game in Nashville. The crowd is expected to heavily favor Auburn, and McAllister has already seen how well Auburn fans travel this season — highlighted by the thousands of fans who traveled all the way to Berkeley, California for Auburn’s September game against Cal.

Auburn, despite the home-crowd advantage it often has in Vanderbilt’s small stadium, has a quite trepidatious history in Nashville. Auburn has lost each of its last two trips to Vanderbilt and the all-time series is tied 21-21-1. And that’s considering the fact Auburn closed its series deficit by winning 14 of the last 16 games since 1978. The two schools haven’t played since 2016, a game Auburn won 23-16 in Auburn.

For as much as Vanderbilt has been a bottom-feeder in the SEC, Auburn has struggled with Nasvhille’s SEC school.

“This is a scary game to me, I’ve always thought playing there is difficult for whatever reason,” head coach Hugh Freeze said Monday.

In a weird setup, Auburn will look to McAllister, its team captain. He’s never seen Vanderbilt with a scoreboard swaying in the wind, but he certainly knows how to handle an odd look.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]