For many Auburn fans, the celebration following the Tigers' 45-41 upset victory at No. 7 Texas A&M continued through last Saturday night and into the beginning of this week.
A crowd of fans welcomed the Tigers when their plane landed in nearby Columbus, Ga. late Saturday night. An even bigger crowd welcomed them back to the athletic campus when they returned to campus minutes before midnight.
With all of the excitement surrounding the win against the Aggies and the rest of Auburn's season, head coach Gus Malzahn made it clear in his Tuesday press conference what his team was focusing on this week -- the Florida Atlantic Owls.
"We have Florida Atlantic this week," Malzahn said in his opening statement. "They are a very athletic team that can run. They have eight starters back on defense and seven on offense. They are definitely concerning."
When the questions quickly turned to Auburn's nationally televised upset three days ago, Malzahn said the team's celebrations ended quickly after its arrival back on The Plains.
"On Saturday, we enjoyed (the win)," Malzahn said. "I told our players and coaches, they worked hard and to enjoy it. Once Sunday got here, it is behind us."
College football coaches, analysts and even a few computers gave the Tigers even more love Sunday when the season's first BCS polls heralded them as the No. 11 team in the land.
So what did Malzahn think about the new ranking for his team, which was predicted to finish next-to-last in the SEC Western division?
"We're happy that people think that highly of us," Malzahn said bluntly. "But we're on to next week, and that's our only focus.
"There are areas that we need to improve on as a whole. We've not arrived yet. We're still making mistakes we need to correct in all areas."
Many fans and even a few coaches would be tempted to look past Auburn's matchup this Saturday against Florida Atlantic, a 2-5 team from the Conference USA.
But that is not how the Tigers are operating this season.
"We have to get back to doing what got us here and working hard, taking it one day, one practice and one game at a time," Malzahn said.
Malzahn has preached "one step at a time" since his first spring practice, and his players have repeated that mantra all season long.
For senior defensive end Nosa Eguae, blocking out the extra attention -- whether positive or negative -- has become second nature for the Tigers.
"We really don't listen to it," Eguae said. "We really just try to focus on us, focus on what our coaches are saying and what our coaches are telling us we need to improve and how to improve every day and get better."
According to several Auburn players, Malzahn continues to keep their feet on the ground, even after exceeding most of their preseason predictions just seven games into the 2013 campaign.
"(Malzahn) is the reason why we're successful, and he's got us and we've got him, we've got each other's back," said junior center Reese Dismukes. "It's just a mindset. I'm glad he's our head coach, and he's a heck of a coach."
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