AUBURN, Ala. -- Clint Moseley is a small-town guy about to arrive in college football's bigtime.

The sophomore quarterback for Auburn (No. 20 BCS, No. 19 AP) will make his first career start Saturday for the Tigers at No. 1 LSU, a daunting debut that he's embracing.

"It couldn't get any better," Moseley said Tuesday. "Aggressive defense. No. 1 team in the country. All the hype coming up to it. It's Death Valley. Yeah, it's a little nerve-racking, but at the same time how could you draw it up better?

"That's just the most dramatic situation you can think of. That's just awesome."

Moseley is replacing Barrett Trotter, who started the first seven games but completed only eight passes in the last six quarters for the nation's 106th-rated pass offense. The 6-foot-3, 223-pounder from tiny Leroy, Ala., has attempted nine career passes and all four completions came when he took over in the second half of last weekend's 17-6 win over Florida.

The two battled to replace Cam Newton through spring practice and into preseason camp. When Trotter won out, Moseley called it "the disappointment of my life" and admitted it took him a few days to get over.

He faded from the picture for a while, though Chizik and offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said throughout that he not the increasingly utilized freshman Kiehl Frazier remained the top backup.

Moseley watched as Trotter started and Frazier played in the Wildcat role. When Mosley didn't get in the game in an easy win over Florida Atlantic on Sept. 24, he went the next day to Chizik's office for a heart-to-heart.

Chizik said they talked for about 90 minutes about football and "just about how to deal with different things in your life."