The Auburn football team has come quite a way from its 1-2 start to the 2016 season. The Tigers have won four games in a row – including their 56-3 victory over Arkansas last week – to climb to No. 15 in the latest Associated Press poll.

But coach Gus Malzahn doesn’t want his team resting on its laurels.

“You can’t pat yourself on the back, not in this league,” he said in his weekly press conference.

Next up for Auburn is a 6:15 p.m. game in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to face unranked Ole Miss Saturday on the SEC Network. The Rebels are 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the conference.

Again, Malzahn had words of warning for his squad.

“Don’t let that record deceive you,” he said. “They’re one of the top groups in our league. They played Alabama better than anybody.”

Speaking of the top team in the land, the Crimson Tide is taking a week off after downing then-No. 9 Texas A&M 33-14. Alabama returns to action with its 7 p.m. Nov. 5 visit to Tiger Stadium to face LSU.

Magic City Classic

A week ago, Alabama A&M and Alabama State each had the week off. This week, the two face one another at Birmingham’s Legion Field in the 75^th McDonald’s Magic City Classic presented by Coca-Cola.

Alabama State and Alabama A&M clash in last year’s Magic City Classic. (Nik Layman/Alabama NewsCenter)

This year, the Classic is a meeting of mirror-image teams. Each is 2-5 overall and 2-4 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. And each team’s wins came against the same opponents – Mississippi Valley State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Bulldogs coach James Spady said it’s his job to keep his team focused on the job at hand and not be distracted by the pageantry of the Classic. Hornets coach Brian Jenkins said he isn’t worried about any potential distractions.

“Those other factors that surround the Magic City Classic are not factors to us preparing or to us performing on Saturday,” he said.

Kickoff is at 3 p.m., and the game can be seen on ESPN3.

OTHER STATE SCHOOLS

Samford at Mississippi State: Samford moved up to 19^th in the FCS Coaches Poll and 20^th in the STATS FCS Poll. The Bulldogs are 6-1 overall and 4-1 in the Southern Conference; they’ve won four straight games and are coming off a 30-17 win over Western Carolina. The 6-1 start is the best for Samford since 1992. Their 2:30 p.m. dogfight in Starkville can be seen on the SEC Network.

Jamerson Blount and the Samford Bulldogs are putting together an impressive season. (Samford Athletics)

Massachusetts at Troy:  The Trojans (6-1, 4-0 in the Sun Belt Conference) achieved bowl eligibility last week as they outlasted rival South Alabama. Their 2:30 game this week can be seen on ESPN3.

Georgia State at South Alabama: The Jaguars (3-4 overall, 0-4 in the Sun Belt Conference) will try to get their first conference win and climb to .500 overall on homecoming at 4 p.m. on ESPN3.

Tuskegee at Central State: The Golden Tigers dropped 10 spots in this week’s D2football.com poll following their loss to Kentucky State, landing at No. 20. Tuskegee (6-1) returns to action this weekend, with kickoff set for noon Central.

Miles at Clark Atlanta: The Golden Bears (4-3, 2-1 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) kick off at noon Central.

Eastern Illinois at Jacksonville State: JSU (6-1) celebrates homecoming and Family Day with a 2 p.m. kickoff on ESPN3. The Gamecocks are No. 2 in both the STATS and FCS Coaches Polls for the second week in a row.

North Alabama at Delta State: JSU continues to be the only blemish on the Lions’ slate this season. UNA (5-1, 4-0) travels to Cleveland, Miss., for a 2 p.m. kickoff. North Alabama was granted a waiver by the NCAA that will allow the Lions to be considered for the NCAA Division II football playoffs, despite not meeting the minimum requirement of 10 regular-season contests. (Their game at Florida Tech was canceled because of Hurricane Matthew.)

Florida Tech at West Alabama: The Tigers (5-3, 5-1 Gulf South Conference) go for their fifth win in a row at 2 p.m.

Greensboro at Huntingdon: The Hawks (6-1) kick off at 1 p.m.

Centre at Birmingham-Southern: The Panthers (1-7) make another bid for win No. 2 this season at 1 p.m.

HIGH SCHOOLS

7A: James Clemens, 6-3 and No. 8 in the latest Alabama Sports Writers Association ranking, can earn the second seed in Region 4 with a win over Class 6A, Region 8 champ Austin (7-2) tonight in Decatur. That would put Gadsden City as third seed and No. 10 Bob Jones as fourth seed. A loss by Clemens would give the second seed to Bob Jones, would make James Clemens third and Gadsden City fourth.

6A: Ramsay, the Class 6A No. 8 team, takes on Class 7A No. 9 Mountain Brook on the road.

5A: Class 6A Jackson-Olin (7-2) looks to conclude a solid regular season by visiting Class 5A Fairfield.

4A: Andalusia (8-1) will win the Region 1 title via tiebreaker with a win over Straughn (4-4). A loss could give the Region 1 title to UMS-Wright (7-2) if the Bulldogs can beat defending Class 5A state champion St. Paul’s Episcopal (7-2) in the battle of two of Mobile’s private school powers. A win by Straughn (4-4) over Andalusia could possibly give them the Class 3A, Region 3 fourth seed. Straughn, Providence Christian and Slocomb are in a three-way tie, which will be decided by tiebreaker.

3A: Class 3A Gordo travels to Class A Pickens County in the 92^nd meeting of this west Alabama rivalry. Gordo holds a 49-39-3 edge in the series. The cities of Gordo and Reform are just 8 miles apart.

2A: Class 2A No. 2 Elba travels to Class 3A No. 2 G.W. Long.

1A: Class 1A No. 6 Cedar Bluff heads to Class 2A No. 10 Sand Rock.

AISA: No. 2 Bessemer Academy looks to notch its 10^th win against one defeat as it heads to No. 6 Escambia Academy.