If the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry wasn’t deep enough already, Auburn linebackers Chandler Wooten, Owen Pappoe, and Zakoby McClain have reasons beyond the collegiate level fueling their desire to beat Georgia Saturday.

All three linebackers played football high school football in the state of Georgia. So, as Wooten told auburntigers.com, Saturday’s matchup hits particularly close to home.

“We’ve got a lot of players from Georgia on this team,” said Wooten, who signed with the Tigers over Tennessee and Florida in 2017. “There are a lot of people who take it personal.

“That’s just how we have to approach the game, personally, because it is personal. If everybody has that mindset and prepares the right way, we’ll give ourselves a good chance to win.”

Pappoe, the top-ranked outside linebacker in the class of 2018, eventually chose Auburn over Georgia due to the “family atmosphere” he felt from the program.

Georgia never offered a scholarship to McClain. The senior will have one final chance to beat the Bulldogs in his career as a Tiger in Saturday.

“It means a lot,” he said. “I don’t like those Bulldogs. I don’t like that red.”

The Tigers are set to kickoff against the Bulldogs in Jordan-Hare Stadium at 3:30 ET.