Dec. 16, 2006

AUBURN - With the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic inching another day closer, the 10th-ranked Auburn football team worked out for the third straight day for less than two hours Saturday at the practice fields behind the Athletic Complex.

The team spent most of the practice focusing on individual drills. The Tigers (10-2 overall, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) also spent time on crossover drills as a team. As had been done the previous two bowl practices, the younger Tigers stayed on the field for approximately 30 minutes longer than the veterans for extra work.

""It was a beautiful day with nice weather," Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville said. "It was a good practice. Everybody is doing good and working hard. They are enthusiastic.

"We start tomorrow working on Nebraska, at least mentally. We'll have meetings tomorrow afternoon but they'll get most of the day off. We'll start Monday morning and work four days on Nebraska."

The AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic against Nebraska (9-4, 6-2 Big 12) will mark the seventh straight bowl game for the Tigers and third consecutive New Year's bowl. The Tigers enter the Cotton Bowl 3-3 in the previous six games, including a three-game win streak from 2002-04.

Under Tuberville, the Tigers have played in four New Year's Day bowls, going 2-2. At the 2001 Citrus Bowl, Auburn lost to Michigan, 31-28, but then turned around at the 2003 Capital One Bowl with a 13-9 defeat of Penn State. The Tigers capped off their perfect 13-0 season in 2004 with a 16-13 win over Virginia Tech at the 2005 Sugar Bowl. Last season, Auburn fell to Wisconsin, 24-10, at the Capital One Bowl.

The Tigers will meet Nebraska Jan. 1 in the 71st annual AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic. The game kicks off at 10:40 a.m. CT at Cotton Bowl Stadium and will air live on FOX.