Kenny Hill

TCU quarterback Kenny Hill (7) passes during the first half of an NCAA college football game against South Dakota State Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

It was a little more than two years ago that Kenny Hill took the SEC by storm, passing for 511 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start for Texas A&M in a 2014 season-opening victory over South Carolina.

Hill became a national sensation, with his self-appointed nickname "Kenny Trill" showing up on T-shirts and home-made signs throughout Aggie Land. But by late October, Hill had been suspended for team rules violations and lost his starting job, eventually transferring to TCU.

After sitting out the 2015 season under NCAA transfer rules, Hill gets another shot at taking down an SEC opponent when the Horned Frogs (1-0) host Arkansas (1-0) on Saturday. Before things went south in College Station two years ago, Hill passed for 386 yards and four touchdowns in an overtime victory over the Razorbacks.

In his first start under head coach Gary Patterson at TCU, Hill was equally impressive, passing for 439 yards and two touchdowns in a 59-41 victory over South Dakota State. He added 45 yards and three scores rushing.

"He's a much-improved player, not that he was a bad player to begin with," Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said during his appearance on the SEC coaches teleconference. "He played well against us (in 2014). But now, in Gary's system and offensively what they do, I think it fits him very, very well in that system. He throws the ball better than he has and runs the ball with efficiency if he has to. He's very elusive in the pocket, which allows him to create plays beyond the line of scrimmage.

"And I think bigger than anything, he's just got a maturity to him. Whatever happens, he just lines up and plays the next play. He's a very accomplished player, and very gifted. It's going to be a tremendous task for us on Saturday."

Arkansas and TCU were once both members of the now-defunct Southwest Conference, and haven't met in football since 1991, the Razorbacks' final season before joining the SEC. Not counting their annual conference game with Texas A&M (also a former SWC member), the game with the Horned Frogs will be the fourth against a former SWC member in Bielema's four-year tenure with the Razorbacks.

Arkansas played a home-and-home series with Texas Tech in 2014 and 2015 and also met Texas in the 2014 Texas Bowl in Houston. Bielema said these types of games are meaningful to veteran Arkansas fans, as well as anyone with a strong appreciation for history.

"(Patterson) said, and I agree with it being an old school guy, that having this come forward for the fans is really good," Bielema said. "The first time we experienced that was when he played Texas Tech a couple of years ago, and we were able to play Texas in a bowl game in Houston. It was a real-opener for me, in terms of the culture and the history here at Arkansas. I know people are excited about this. Obviously, TCU and the resurgence they've had under Gary is second to none. The way they've built that up, combined with the traditions of the past, is very cool."