Crimson Red Sports

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TUSCALOOSA - It wasn't easy for Courtney Upshaw to go back to his hometown last year after Alabama lost the Iron Bowl. Eufaula is an Auburn town.

"When I went home after the loss, I heard it from everybody," said the Crimson Tide's star senior outside linebacker.

Don't blame Upshaw. He had a team-high 10 tackles (seven solo), including two sacks, and he forced two fumbles.

He'll lead the nation's No. 1 defense at 2:30 p.m. when second-ranked Alabama (10-1, 6-1 in the Southeastern Conference) visits No. 24 Auburn (7-4, 4-3).

"Hopefully," Upshaw said, "we'll come out with a 'W' so I can erase that feeling and go back and talk a lot of trash to those guys."

Can't lose

Upshaw leads Alabama in sacks this season with 6½. His 14 tackles for a loss are 7½ more than any teammate.

Inside linebacker Dont'a Hightower leads the team in tackles with 72 (31 solo).

Both players still are in the running for the Butkus and the Rotary Lombardi awards.

"Of course I want to win," Upshaw said, "but if I lose to Dont'a, in a way I won it, too, because we're teammates."

For the first time since 2006, the year before Saban became Alabama's head coach, Auburn did not have a bye week before the Iron Bowl. It was especially hard to Saban to accept playing on Fridays in 2009 and 2010 for that reason.