LSU has not won a road game against conference rival Auburn since 1998, but the Tigers are confident that will change in their Southeastern Conference opener Saturday.After outscoring Appalachian State and North Texas for a combined score of  82-16, the team is anxious to prove what it can do against a more vaunted opponent.”Auburn is just more physical than the other teams,” sophomore safety Chad Jones said. “They’re bigger, faster and stronger.”Jones said he feels the intensity building and thinks LSU’s battle with Auburn is a must-see.”I definitely know it’s a rivalry game,” Jones said. “I was watching when I sat in the stands as a recruit. Everybody wanted to come to this game. But going away, we haven’t won in a while, so we’re looking forward to a big win this year.”Senior wide receiver Demetrius Byrd said the Tiger offense must be at its best to come away with a win against a tough Auburn defense.”They have some pretty good guys on the defensive line,” Byrd said. “[Junior defensive back] Jerraud Powers is pretty good, and they have some other people in the secondary that look pretty good this year. The defenses we’ve gone against aren’t as talented as them.”Byrd said the quarterbacks will also be tested the most they have been so far.”Our quarterbacks are probably going to see some things they haven’t seen, some speed and some blitzes and stuff like that,” Byrd said. “[This game] is really going to show what we’ve got and what we need to do coming up. I know what we’ve got at quarterback; I just want to see what they can do against, you know, a conference team.”Byrd was the hero in last season’s home matchup with Auburn when he caught a touchdown pass from former quarterback Matt Flynn in the closing seconds to seal LSU’s 30-24 win. He said while that catch was memorable, he is focusing on what he needs to do offensively to win on the road now.”Once I get there I’ll probably get a couple of boos and all that stuff, but I’m prepared for that now,” Byrd said. “So once I get there and we start kickoff, I’ll have last year behind me. It’s time to step up and make some catches for this year.”Auburn scored only three points in their 3-2 win over Mississippi State this past week, but Jones said that low-scoring effort will not mean much on Saturday.”Them scoring 3 points last week doesn’t really tell us anything because they’re going to pull all their tricks out of the hat,” Jones said.—-Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]