ATHENS — Cam Newton will be a part of the festivities on Saturday when Georgia faces Auburn.

The Heisman Trophy winner will have his iconic Auburn No. 2 jersey retired on Saturday. In addition to winning the highest individual honor in the sport, Newton led Auburn to an unbeaten national championship that season.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is well familiar with Newton’s 2010 herocis. But he has a different perspective than those with Georgia ties.

Smart was Alabama’s defensive coordinator at the time.

“He’s a great player. I mean, he kind of took over the SEC,” Smart said on the SEC Coaches Teleconference. “And I still remember watching the tape. And it was crazy because his evolution was he wasn’t, as I recall, he wasn’t even playing as quarterback that year. He was coming in, doing some things. I think it was either South Carolina or Clemson game that he just blew up.”

To start that season, Auburn squeezed out one-score wins over Mississippi State, Clemson and South Carolina. But as the season progressed, Newton kept improving.

When Auburn hosted Georgia in November of that season, the Tigers were the No. 2-ranked team in the country. There was plenty of controversy surrounding Newton at that point in time, but none of it seemed to impact him.

Georgia raced out to an early 21-7 lead against Auburn that day. But Newton overwhelmed Georgia, as he threw for 2 touchdowns on 148 yards while adding 2 rushing touchdowns and 151 rushing yards on an astonishing 30 carries.

Auburn rallied and thanks to two fourth-quarter touchdowns, pulled away for a 49-31 win.

Auburn’s next game came against Smart’s Alabama team. Like Georgia, Alabama got out to an early lead against Newton. Alabama held a 21-0 lead after the first quarter.

Yet Newton once again put Auburn on his back and carried the Tigers to a 28-27 road victory.

The 2010 win is the last time Auburn has beaten Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“It was different once he took over. And he had such an aura about him that it was like he made everybody around him play better because he believed they could win every game regardless of the score,” Smart said. “And I think he ended up proving that.”

Newton’s lone season at Auburn saw him account for 50 touchdowns and 4,327 combined passing and rushing yards. He would go on to become the No. 1 pick in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers.

Newton began his college career at Florida after a stellar high school career at Westlake High School in Atlanta.

The presence of Newton should make Saturday’s atmosphere all the more special for an Auburn program that is looking for its third win over Georgia since that 2010 season.

It will be a difficult task for Georgia to go in and beat Auburn on the road, even if the Tigers don’t have “Superman” on their team.

“I’m excited to go into this road atmosphere that I feel like I’ve played or coached there many times and just have so much respect for the atmosphere they create,” Smart said. “They do a great job, their fans, the energy, the enthusiasm. I know our kids are excited to go play in that atmosphere and a big game in the SEC again.”