So, you're a football fan but you need a little extra motivation to ignore the biggest shopping day of year -- one that has been made even more inviting thanks to a beautifully temperate day in wonderful South Florida. Well, consider this:

Nick Saban and the second-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide could lose Friday to a handful of kids from Broward County. How's that for stimulus? Put away your credit cards and save some money. You can't buy this type of potential bliss.

When the Auburn Tigers (7-4) host Alabama (11-0) at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, five players from South Florida will start for the team that wants nothing more than to disfigure and devour Saban's team like a leftover Thanksgiving Day turkey. Not only will South Florida revenge be well represented at Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium, but just about every potential key to victory for Auburn's defense and special teams involves a South Floridian.

Auburn's Broward County Five: Middle linebacker Josh Bynes of Lauderdale Lakes Boyd Anderson, cornerback Walter McFadden of Pompano Beach Blanche Ely, defensive tackle Mike Blanc of Deerfield Beach, defensive end Antoine Carter of Fort Lauderdale Dillard and kicker Wes Byrum of Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas.

``This game is personal,'' Blanc said.

What's that random battle cry of the Auburn Tigers? Oh, yeah. War Eagle. War Dad-Gum Eagle!

Auburn is a 10-point underdog in the 74th Iron Bowl, but would anyone really be surprised if this game came down to a field goal in the final seconds? Not after watching Tennessee nearly upset the Tide. Alabama needed two blocked field goals, including one on the final play of the game, to survive the Volunteers.

You want South Florida intrigue? Byrum, Auburn's junior place kicker from St. Thomas, signed with the Tigers one month and one day after Saban finally told the truth and left the Dolphins for Alabama. Byrum grew up cheering for the Fins, but he might dislike Saban a little more than the average Dolfan.

See, not only does Byrum now play for Auburn -- Alabama's bitter instate rival -- and not only is Byrum a lifelong Dolphins fan, but Auburn's kicker was also a high school teammate of Matt Shula, son of David Shula and nephew of former Alabama coach Mike Shula.

Putting it mildly, the gut-shot combination of Saban's dramatic departure from Miami and Mike Shula's ouster in Tuscaloosa, Ala., was a little too much for the folks at St. Thomas to stomach. Byrum had barely finished his senior season at St. Thomas when Raiders coach George Smith fired off a letter to Alabama athletics director Mal Moore, informing Moore that Alabama would no longer be welcomed at St. Thomas.

If you don't think South Florida football fans -- pro, college, high school, everyone -- will be paying very close attention to Byrum's booming right foot on Friday, then you just haven't been paying very close attention for the last three years. But let's not put any more pressure on Byrum than he's already feeling. After all, he's well aware that his right foot could potentially send the entire state of Alabama into absolute hysteria on Friday afternoon.

``I didn't like what went on with the whole Dolphins thing when he left there and went to Alabama,'' Byrum said. ``It definitely adds a little bit to it, but regardless of who we're playing, I need to do what I need to do to succeed rather than focus on who we're playing and who their coach is and all the other stuff going on around the game.''

The other stuff: Alabama running back Mark Ingram is a Heisman Trophy candidate and enters the game with 1,399 rushing yards and 15 total touchdowns. Auburn's Broward County run stoppers -- Bynes, Blanc and Carter -- know that Auburn's defense must limit Ingram for the Tigers to have a chance.

``The key to this game is stopping their ground attack, so we've got to go out there and stop their running game and try to make the offense put the game in the quarterback's hands and try to make him win it,'' said Bynes, the linebacker who leads Auburn with 84 tackles.

But, wait, there's more! Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy's top target on Friday will be receiver Julio Jones. He leads Alabama with 31 receptions for 462 yards and four touchdowns. Covering Jones will be McFadden, the senior cornerback from Pompano Beach Blanche Ely. McFadden limited Jones to three catches for 36 yards in last season's Iron Bowl.

``The Iron Bowl grows on you and now in my third year we've got the No. 2 team in the country in our own house and they're undefeated with a Heisman candidate at running back,'' Bynes said. ``It doesn't get any bigger than that.''