With Auburn’s 4-0 start, Gus Malzahn appears to be off the hot seat. With that, he seems to have extra swagger too.

At least that’s what former LSU defensive lineman and ESPN college football analyst Marcus Spears says.

“This is the Gus Malzahn you need to be afraid of,” Spears said on the SEC Network after watching a clip of Malzahn celebrating with his team following the road victory against Texas A&M. “That is the swagger he had when they were ripping off wins against Georgia and Alabama two years ago.

“He feels like he has the team he needs to shock people.”

Watch the clip Spears is referencing and his full comments on Malzahn’s new found swagger below:

“This is the Gus Malzahn that you need to be afraid of.” — @mspears96 📺: #TOL pic.twitter.com/bnL6SP2NGD — SEC Network (@SECNetwork) September 23, 2019

A vast majority of the media at SEC media days voted for Alabama and Georgia to be the two representatives in the SEC Championship Game. Through four weeks, those teams are still dominant, and LSU has risen close to their level in a lot of people’s minds.

That means Auburn could be a true dark horse despite being the No. 7 team in the country. The Tigers play all three of those teams and while Auburn likely won’t win all of them, the Tigers are going to have a major say about who will be playing in Atlanta on the first weekend of December.

Auburn picked up a big last-second, 27-21, victory against Oregon on opening weekend and then knocked off Texas A&M, 28-20, at College Station this past Saturday. The Tigers have also beaten Tulane and Kent State.