On Monday morning of the week before his first time experiencing one of college football’s most famous rivalries, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze called a close friend and a man who has played in a quite a few games like this: former Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn.

Malzahn, now the head coach at UCF, described the rivalry and how much it means to Alabama and Auburn fans to Freeze. Freeze has coached in big rivalry games before — namely the Egg Bowl between Ole Miss and Mississippi State when Freeze was the Rebels head coach — but Malzahn made sure to note this one is a bit different.

“I know you’ve been part of a big one across state lines,” Freeze said on Monday’s Tiger Talk radio show of what Malzahn told him. “But this one here’s on another level.”

Malzahn was Auburn’s offensive coordinator on the 2010 national championship team and was Auburn’s head coach from 2013 until he was fired in 2020. Malzahn’s first year, 2013, was the magical ride to the national championship game including the famous “Prayer at Jordan-Hare” pass to Ricardo Louis to beat Georgia and the Kick Six to beat Alabama in magical and historic fashion.

The Kick Six was actually one of the first times Freeze and Malzahn discussed the Iron Bowl.

During his press conference Monday, Freeze said he doesn’t remember where he was for the Kick Six and that he did not see the play live.

“But I do remember when I first saw it and found out, I couldn’t wait to call Gus and say, ‘Man, you’ve got to explain to me how in the world that all felt,” Freeze said Monday.

Freeze will make his Iron Bowl debut Saturday 10 years after the famous Chris Davis 109-yard return. He’s already been coached on what to prepare for by Malzahn and Auburn’s older players. During Tiger Talk, Freeze said he showed videos to the team, especially focusing on other Iron Bowl first-timers, to explain the meaning of this game to the program and the fans.

Kickoff between Auburn and Alabama is set for 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The game will be aired on CBS.

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