The traffic around downtown Auburn began to pick up early Friday. By Friday night, the quaint college town was buzzing with energy as Saturday night’s highly anticipated matchup between the Tigers and 13th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels approached.

It’s easy to center everything around Auburn first-year head coach Hugh Freeze, who coached Ole Miss from 2012-16 before his controversial exit.

But there’s a lot more to it.

Lane Kiffin and the 13th-ranked Rebels (5-1, 2-1 SEC) are hoping to do something an Ole Miss team hasn’t done in 71 years — beat Auburn in back-to-back seasons. The Rebels beat the Tigers 48-34 in Oxford, Miss. last season.

Meanwhile, Freeze and the Tigers (3-3, 0-3 SEC) are hoping the Auburn Family can come through Saturday night and give the Rebels the same trouble they’ve always had at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

On Monday, Kiffin remarked on the difficulties of playing at Jordan-Hare Stadium, where Ole Miss has won just three games in the series history, despite 20 visits to The Plains.

With a lot of pride on the line, Auburn and Ole Miss are set to kickoff tonight at 6 p.m.

Follow along:

Pregame: Availability report favors the Tigers

Based on who warmed up for Auburn, the Tigers are expected to see both linebacker Austin Keys and defensive back Keionte Scott back in action against Ole Miss this evening.

Keys has been out of commission since the season opener against UMass with a thumb injury that required surgery. Meanwhile, Scott is coming back off an ankle injury he sustained against Samford.