It’s only 42 miles from where Quinshon Judkins played high school football at Pike Road to Jordan-Hare stadium, but he didn’t visit Auburn until he was being recruited as a 9th grader. Auburn was the first unofficial visit for the now Ole Miss star running back.

This season Judkins finally gets to see game action at Jordan-Hare Stadium — on the visiting sideline.

Ole Miss visits Auburn on October 21, and while Judkins may have some additional friends and family in the stands, he doesn’t seem to have any extra motivation to play school he grew up in the footprint of.

“I don’t look forward to just playing at Auburn, I look at all my games a certain way going into a game,” Judkins said Thursday at his session during SEC Media Days in Nashville. “You’re excited about each and every game. You’re not just looking forward to one team even though I grew up not that far from Auburn.”

Auburn was in Judkins’ final seven schools in his recruiting process. He had a strong interest in Auburn. AL.com previously reported Auburn running backs coach Cadillac Williams pushed hard to land the local running back. But Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin made a stronger connection. A tweet showed Kiffin sitting alone in the Pike Road high school stands to watch his future star.

So Judkins ultimately picked Ole Miss. And he immediately dominated the SEC.

“Quinshon is really special,” Kiffin said in the main media room Thursday. “Think about what he did as a freshman to come in and have that workload.”

Last season in Oxford, Judkins rushed for 139 yards and scored three total touchdowns against Auburn. It was the start of a run of five straight 100+ yard rushing games — including two games over 200 yards.

Judkins will be more of a focal point for Auburn to stop this fall — it will have to in order to beat Ole Miss. And yet, while Judkins may be what Auburn circles in game planning, that might not be reciprocated by the player coming back home.

“That’s the area I come from, but I don’t think it makes the game more special or anything,” Judkins said.