New Mexico State (8-3) at Auburn (6-4)

3 p.m. CST Saturday (SEC Network)

Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn

1 Common opponent for Auburn and New Mexico State this season. The Aggies lost to Massachusetts 41-30 on Aug. 26, and Auburn defeated the Minutemen 59-14 on Sept. 2.

3 Previous games between Auburn and New Mexico State. The Tigers won 55-14 on Nov. 6, 1993, 55-20 on Sept. 22, 2007, and 42-7 on Nov. 3, 2012.

4 Consecutive Auburn games have included an increase in points for the Tigers, the second time that has happened in a single season in school history. Since losing to LSU 48-18 on Oct. 14, Auburn has lost to Ole Miss 28-21 and beaten Mississippi State 27-13, Vanderbilt 31-15 and Arkansas 48-10 on successive Saturdays. The other occurrence of four games with increasing points occurred in 1942. After losing to Mississippi State 6-0 on Oct. 31, 1942, Auburn lost to Georgia Pre-Flight 41-14 and defeated LSU 25-7, Georgia 27-13 and Clemson 41-13 on four November Saturdays. Auburn has never had five consecutive games with increasing points in one season. The Tigers’ climbing point totals have been accompanied by an increase in rushing yards. Auburn had 139 rushing yards against LSU, then had 153 against Ole Miss, 186 against Mississippi State, 230 against Vanderbilt and 354 against Arkansas.

5 TD receptions for Rivaldo Fairweather in 2023, the most in one season for an Auburn tight end since Philip Lutzenkirchen had seven in 2011. Fairweather is the Tigers’ leading receiver this season with 30 catches for 305 yards.

5 Victories without a loss for Auburn against opponents from Conference USA. The Tigers defeated Tulane 38-13 in 2006, Southern Miss 27-13 in 2008 and 24-13 in 2018, Florida Atlantic 45-10 in 2013 and Louisiana Tech 45-17 in 2014. New Mexico State is in its first season as a C-USA member.

8 TD passes by Auburn QB Peyton Thorne in the past three games, three more than he had in the first seven games of the season. Thorne has completed 49-of-73 passes for 587 yards with eight TDs and two interceptions in Auburn’s victories over Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Arkansas after going 80-of-130 for 845 yards with five TDs and five interceptions during his previous seven appearances for the Tigers.

10.8 Yards per carry have been averaged by New Mexico State RB Monte Watkins, the best in nation for any player with at least 40 rushing attempts this season. Watkins has run for 531 yards and two TDs on 49 carries. QB Diego Pavia is New Mexico State’s leading rusher in 2023 with 703 yards and five TDs on 126 carries.

14 Consecutive games with at least 170 rushing yards for New Mexico State. Missouri was the most recent opponent to hold the Aggies to fewer than 170 rushing yards in the Tigers’ 45-14 victory on Nov. 19, 2022.

17 Takeaways for Auburn this season, the most in the SEC. The Tigers have recovered six of their opponents’ fumbles and intercepted 11 passes. Auburn has produced a takeaway in 19 consecutive games. New Mexico State has lost nine turnovers – six interceptions and three fumbles – this season, which are the fewest in Conference USA.

17 Consecutive field-goal attempts have been made by Auburn K Alex McPherson since he missed the first one of his career, the longest streak in school history.

21 Consecutive games have been lost by New Mexico State to opponents currently in Power 5 conferences. The Aggies’ losing streak started after a 28-21 victory over Minnesota on Sept. 10, 2011. Twelve of the losses in the streak came against SEC opponents.

24 Losses without a victory for New Mexico State in games against SEC opponents. All the games have been on the road for the Aggies. In 14 of the games, the SEC team scored at least 50 points.

33 Years since Auburn lost a non-conference game in November. The Tigers’ most recent loss in a non-conference game in the 11th month came on Nov. 10, 1990, when Auburn fell to Southern Miss 13-12. Since that game, the Tigers have won all 24 of their non-conference games in November. In those games, Auburn has beaten Louisiana-Monroe five times, Samford three times, Alabama A&M, New Mexico State and UCF twice apiece and Louisiana, East Carolina, Arkansas State, Tennessee Tech, Tennessee-Martin, Furman, Chattanooga, Idaho, Liberty and Western Kentucky once each.

34 More tackles for Auburn WLB Eugene Asante than for any of his teammates this season. Asante has 75 tackles, with MLB Larry Nixon III next with 41.

49 Consecutive victories for Auburn in home games against unranked non-conference opponents. The most recent non-SEC team to come into Jordan-Hare Stadium unranked in The Associated Press Poll and upend the Tigers is South Florida, which scored a 26-23 victory on Sept. 7, 2007. Both Auburn and South Florida went 9-4 that season.

57 Seasons between eight-win campaigns for New Mexico State. This season is the first with more than seven victories for the Aggies since 1965. In 2023, New Mexico State has beaten Western Illinois, New Mexico, Florida International, Sam Houston, UTEP, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky. The Aggies have lost to Massachusetts, Liberty and Hawaii.

139 Games have been played by Auburn since it was most recently shut out, the second-longest streak in school history. Auburn’s most recent shutout loss came 49-0 to Alabama on Nov. 17, 2012. Auburn’s record scoring streak lasted 149 games, starting with a 55-16 victory over Richmond on Oct. 4, 1980, and ending with a 17-0 loss to Alabama on Nov. 26, 1992. Auburn’s current scoring streak is the 10th-longest in SEC history, and its record streak is the ninth-longest.

436 Rushing yards in the past three games for Auburn RB Jarquez Hunter, who has averaged 8.4 yards per carry in victories over Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Arkansas. After missing the season-opening game, Hunter had averaged 4.3 yards per carry while accumulating 309 rushing yards in his first six games of 2023.

799 Victories in Auburn football history. A win on Saturday would make the Tigers the 13th NCAA FBS and fifth SEC program with 800 victories. The other schools with at least 800 victories include Michigan, Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Texas, Oklahoma, Penn State, Nebraska, Tennessee, Southern Cal, Georgia and LSU. The NCAA record book credits Auburn with an all-time record of 799-468-47.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE SEC, GO TO OUR SEC PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.