Auburn is hoping it will have the Southeastern Conference's leading rusher when it travels to rival Georgia this Saturday.

Head coach Gus Malzahn said Tuesday that running back Kamryn Pettway was "planning on practicing" this week in anticipation of the latest edition of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry.

"We're hoping to get him on the practice field today or tomorrow," Malzahn said. "He's done well so far. He's kind of a quick healer. I'll know more later in the week."

Pettway sustained a leg injury late in the fourth quarter of Auburn's 23-16 win against Vanderbilt last weekend. The 6-foot, 240-pounder pulled up in the middle of a 60-yard run with a leg injury that was only described as a "pull" by Malzahn after the game.

Facing a third-and-1 at the Auburn 28-yard line with 3:38 to go in the game, Pettway broke off a 60-yard run. He appeared on his way to a game-sealing touchdown, but with about 30 yards between him and the end zone, Pettway developed a hitch in his left leg and tried to rumble toward the end zone before getting chased down by Vanderbilt's Dare Odeyingbo at the Commodores' 12-yard line.

Pettway immediately popped up from the turf and hopped toward the sideline as he was greeted by Auburn trainers, who took him over to the training table for treatment.

Pettway did not return to the game and finished with 173 yards, marking the fourth straight game he eclipsed 150 yards on the ground -- a feat last accomplished at Auburn by Bo Jackson. Pettway was shown on the sidelines late in the game and appeared to be in good spirits.

The third-year sophomore leads the SEC in rushing with 1,106 yards on the year while averaging 138.25 yards per game. No other player in the conference has eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark this season.

Pettway became the 10th Auburn player since 2009 to rush for at least 1,000 yards in a single season, extending the Tigers' SEC-best streak of years with a 1,000-yard rusher.

After not recording a carry in each of his first two years on the Plains, Pettway did not record one in the season opener against Clemson on Sept. 3, did not play against ULM and only had two second-half carries against LSU, meaning he has accomplished the feat in essentially 6 1/2 games of action.

The Tigers are hoping he can keep up his torrid pace against the Bulldogs.

"I feel pretty good about that," Malzahn said. "If you look, we didn't have Pettway one game and (Kerryon Johnson)'s done a super job. Stanton Truitt has done a very good job running between the tackles when we've asked him to. We feel good. We feel good about what we have.

"We're not ruling out Pettway yet. Wouldn't be surprised if he plays but at the same time we got other guys that'll be ready to go. We got a lot of confidence in those guys."