-- The Kent State football team won't step on the field against Alabama until the first weekend of September, but this week four players made the trip to Tuscaloosa to lend a hand in helping families recover from the

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On Friday, Golden Flashes players Spencer Keith, Ishmaa'ily Kitchen, Lee Stalker and Jacquise Terry volunteered at Habitat for Humanity houses in Holt alongside Tide players D.J. Fluker, Nico Johnson, John Fulton, Vinnie Sunseri and Caleb Castille, as well as student volunteers from the University of Alabama and Auburn University.

"With us opening against Alabama, and Coach Saban and his wife Terry both being Kent State grads, it made sense," Alan Ashby, Kent State's assistant athletic director for communications, said about the visit. "We're excited to be here and help out in any small way we can."

The American Red Cross arranged the itinerary for the group, including the opportunity to volunteer at the Habitat houses in Holt.

Kent State running back Jacquise Terry, a native of Phenix City, said the trip gave him a "first-person perspective" of the damage from the storms.

"Once I heard about the opportunity to come back down to my home state and help a family out - tornado victims - I was eager to come down here and help out," Terry said.

Habitat for Humanity Tuscaloosa executive director Bob Johnson said that it's an important part of the experience for people to set aside their differences on a Habitat site.

"In this case, we've got these guys that will square off together on September 3, so we can even unite Kent State and the University of Alabama players, because the real purpose of being in there is to serve this family that lost everything in the storms," Johnson said.

Near the end of the work day, Alabama head coach

arrived to greet the visitors from Kent State and thank the volunteers for their efforts.

"Our goal is to rebuild this community," Saban told volunteers. "You're certainly going to restore the quality of life of someone [who was affected by the April storms]."

When asked about the participation of volunteers from Auburn, he said, "I love it. I've been trying to bring us together and the rivalry is not personal."

"The rivalry doesn't have to be personal when it comes to people."

Dana Dowling, the soon-to-be owner of one of the Habitat houses on 5th Avenue, agreed when asked about the volunteers.

"The Alabama and Auburn people - you could only tell them by their shirts," she said. "All of these people just care. They don't care who it is. They just want to help."

Dowling, who was once at her "wits' end" after the April 27 tornado destroyed her house in Holt, said her new home should be ready on Sept. 1 - two days before the Crimson Tide's season opener against the Golden Flashes in Tuscaloosa.