Against my better judgement, I started my Iron Bowl Saturday with a trip to Walmart, where after about 30 seconds of wrestling with a shopping cart, I was ready to pack it up and drive a bit farther down the road to Target, where I’ve convinced myself things are just better (Target has Starbucks).

But then an older woman approached my struggling self with a smile and asked, “You ready for a day of football?”

Mind you, I wasn’t wearing anything that suggested I was a fan of either team playing at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday. I wasn’t wearing anything that suggested I was a football fan at all, actually. And neither was she.

But that didn’t matter. She knew that if I was shopping at Auburn’s local Walmart on the morning of the Iron Bowl, I was likely either visiting Auburn to go to the game or was an Auburn resident and therefore I still better be ready for the game.

“That’s the plan,” I replied to her as I passed the cart I had finally freed over to her, only to be left wrestling to get another one free.

After going our separate ways, I remember thinking to myself, “Of course I’m ready for a day of football. I’ve been looking forward to this game since taking this job in July.”

She didn’t know that, of course. But even if she did, once she found out Saturday would be my first Iron Bowl experience, she might’ve given me a pat on the back and offered me a polite, “Buckle up, butter cup.”

Even then, I’d probably think to myself that I’ve been a part of plenty of rivalry games before.

Back home in Florida, I’ve been in the stands as the Gators take on the Florida State Seminoles the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Heck, I’ve even experienced what I believe to be one of the best atmospheres in college football as the Gators and Georgia Bulldogs meet on the bank of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville.

But had my fellow Walmart patron stuck around to hear me explain that — assuming she has experienced the Iron Bowl — she likely wouldn’t have changed her stance any.

And rightfully so.

Back on Sept. 2, I wrote about my first-ever gameday experience at Auburn. From Tiger Walk, to the Eagle Flight, to Toomer’s Corner – I set out to experience it all firsthand after growing up and hearing about “Auburn being Auburn.”

(Spoiler alert if you chose to visit that story: I was blown away by the gameday atmosphere)

But then comes that team from Tuscaloosa, and everything I experienced in Week 1 is cranked up about 10 notches.

Admittedly, I missed Tiger Walk on Saturday as there was plenty of work waiting for me inside the press box. But I hear it was a spectacle.

Then comes the Eagle Flight.

Aurea – God bless her – foreshadowed the interesting afternoon ahead with an extended and lower-than-usual flight that was as captivating as ever, nonetheless.

After all the pregame festivities, however, I was brought back to Earth as I found myself wondering if Jordan-Hare Stadium had enough magic to compensate for what Auburn would be lacking on the field against Alabama – especially after watching the Tigers be stunned by the New Mexico Aggies the week before.

But Auburn wasn’t hosting New Mexico State on Saturday afternoon.

Auburn was hosting Alabama. And the home crowd reflected that.

Unlike the week prior, stadium seats weren’t slow to be filled. The Auburn student section neared capacity with more than an hour to go before kickoff.

And once the game clock started ticking, butts weren’t in seats. If folks were able, they were on their feet. And they remained that way through the entirety of the game as Auburn and Alabama traded blows in a game that you just knew was shaping up to be another Iron Bowl classic.

Come the midway point of the fourth quarter as Auburn white-knuckled its four-point lead over the eighth-ranked team in the country, my colleagues and I began hashing out our postgame plans – many of which centered around the prospective field storm that was brewing on The Plains.

Before I knew it, I found myself on the sideline, squarely in front of Auburn’s student section, where I was set to hunker down and watch whatever the ensuing moments brought.

As time continued to expire and the Tigers held on tight to their four-point lead, my phone began to chime with messages of disbelief from friends and “please be careful” texts from my family.

Meanwhile, all around me, anxious, but hopeful eyes stared up at the videoboard that sits atop the south endzone of Pat Dye Field.

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe threw an illegal pass beyond the line of scrimmage to force 4th-and-goal from the Auburn 31-yard line with 43 seconds to play. The play, which was an incompletion regardless, led to Aubie the Tiger and Auburn’s Mic-Man Dalton Odom sharing a hug before Aubie was left gripping onto Odom’s shoulder.

Many of Auburn’s fans in the stands were doing the same — holding onto those next to them, whether they were prior acquaintances or not.

On the Tigers’ sideline, Auburn associate head coach and running backs coach Cadillac Williams was left pacing and gesturing at the crowd, asking them to find whatever noise and energy was left in the tank and begging them to hurl it down onto the field, where Alabama was faced with a near-impossible-looking situation.

ESPN’s win probability algorithm gave the Tigers a 99.9% chance to win in that moment.

But as sports have proved to us time and time again, all a team needs is a chance. Whether it’s one play — or perhaps one second — even the most microscopic window of opportunity can alter an outcome completely.

And after experiencing my first one in the flesh, I’m not sure there’s a matchup in all of sports that exemplifies that any better than the Iron Bowl rivalry.

That said, if the nice lady in Walmart happens to read this, I’d like to add that though I replied in the affirmative when you asked me if I was ready for a day of football, I wasn’t ready for that day of football.

But surely you knew that already. Because no one ever is on Iron Bowl Saturday.