If there was a lesson to be learned Saturday it was that you can never count out Tommy Tuberville and the Auburn Tigers. Just when it looks like they are on the deck out for the count they get up and connect on a knockout punch or in this case a 41-yard game winning field goal.

The win over the third ranked (not any more of course) Florida Gators should come as no surprise for most. I had Auburn fans telling me all week long they would win and I shrugged it off as if they were one of these pesky lovebugs invading Clarke County.

What a fool I am. Tommy Tuberville may never be anything more than an occasional 10-win coach with a lot of 8- win seasons mixed in but he knows how to motivate his players and get them ready for the big game when it is all on the line.

They have shown time and time again, whether it be against the defending national champion Florida Gators last season or any of the last five Iron Bowl games, that when it matters most they bring their A-game.

Auburn is on the verge of salvaging what was a sinking ship less than two weeks ago. Standing at 2-2 with a trip to Gainesville on the horizon most logical fans and all Alabama fans thought the Tigers would drop to an embarrassing 2-3 record to start the season.

In 2003 the Tigers and Tuberville were in a very similar downward spiral after being pegged as the sixth-ranked team in the nation to begin the season. Auburn limped into the Iron Bowl with a 6-5 record; Auburn's trustees boarded a plane to Kentucky looking to replace Tuberville with Louisville's Bobby Petrino and the Tiger faithful was ready for the change. We know what happened from there. The plot leaked out, the fans and team rallied behind Tuberville and Auburn went on to win the Iron Bowl 28-23 over Alabama and followed it up with a 14-0 season in 2004. Since that day Auburn and Tuberville are an impressive 35-9.

Now this year didn't present quite the pressure on Tuberville and staff but it just proved again that when Tuberville is backed into a corner is when he is at his best. For this week Auburn can once again claim the momentum in this everchanging world of college football in the state of Alabama. Will they be here next week or will Vanderbilt spoil the show?