CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) -When C.J. Spiller stands beside Howard's Rock for his solo, Senior Day run down Clemson's famed hill on Saturday, he won't think about the friends he's made, the highlight reels he's filled or the nearly four miles he's run since picking the Tigers four seasons ago.
He'll focus, as he always has, on the 60 minutes ahead and guaranteeing his Tigers come out on top.
``It might be emotional, it might not,'' Spiller said. ``Once the game starts, I'll block all that out. My objective will be to position myself to help my team win Saturday.''
The 18th-ranked Tigers (7-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) are heavily favored to do just that against Virginia (3-7, 2-4). A win would wrap up the ACC's Atlantic Division and send Clemson to Tampa, Fla., in two weeks to face Coastal champ Georgia Tech for the conference title.
The Tigers have been this close to the top before, two years ago when all they needed was a victory at home over Boston College. But Matt Ryan's 43-yard touchdown pass with less than two minutes left sent the Eagles on and kept Clemson waiting for success.
That was a disheartening time, Spiller recalled. Yet the Tigers haven't spent one second considering anything else than the Cavaliers this week. Clemson has traveled too far the past two seasons to throw it away now.
``That's what we've been preaching this week,'' Spiller said.
Still, it figures to be one of Death Valley's rowdiest days in quite some time. Fans who fled the team when it returned from a Maryland loss at 2-3, have packed the place during Clemson's five-game win streak. There's a chance the Tigers could wrap things up before kickoff since those Eagles, at 4-2 the only division team that could catch Clemson, play North Carolina at noon with the results known before Clemson's 3:30 p.m. start.
The Tigers hold the tiebreaker over Boston College because of a 25-7 win in September.
Coach Dabo Swinney says that won't matter. He won't talk about the result to his players or let them discuss it before the game.
``Let's line up and play,'' he said. ``I don't want anything given to us. Let's go to work and earn what we get.''
A victory over Virginia would also earn Swinney a huge contractual bonus. The former receivers coach signed a five-year deal this spring for $800,000 a year, at the bottom among ACC football coaches. However, an escalator guarantees that if his team makes the ACC title game, Swinney's 2010 salary could be no less than the median of the league's 12 coaches - meaning a raise of about $1 million that would more than double this year's paycheck.
What a birthday present for Swinney, who turned 40 this week.
First things first, though, and that's solving Virginia's 3-4, prostyle scheme the Tigers haven't come up against this year.
It helps to have Spiller, a rising Heisman Trophy contender, on your side.
He seemingly sets a ``first time ever'' feat each time he touches the ball, Swinney said.
Spiller put up a school record 310 all-purpose yards in Clemson's eye-opening, 40-37 OT win over then eighth-ranked Miami. He broke it two games later with 312, including a career high 165 yards rushing, to beat Florida State 40-24. Last week, he rushed, caught and threw for a touchdown in the Tigers' 43-23 victory over North Carolina State.
Spiller needs just 140 yards to become the NCAA's fifth player to surpass 7,000 all-purpose yards.
Plus, there are Spiller's unforgettable YouTube moments. His sideline juke of two Georgia Tech defenders on a 50-yard TD pass as a freshman, losing a shoe while streaking down the sidelines for a 92-yard kickoff return at Maryland, and breaking out what Spiller called a ``mini'' Heisman pose after his clinching touchdown run against the Seminoles.
Virginia coach Al Groh echoed what most opposing coaches have said about Spiller. ``You need about 14 guys to stop him,'' Groh said.
The Cavaliers only used 11 last year in holding Spiller in check. Clemson's star managed only 18 yards rushing on 14 carries, although he did throw a TD pass in the Tigers' 13-3 win last fall.
Spiller's ready for a difficult, hard-hitting contest. Emotions about his final time at Death Valley? He'll save those for the end of the game when he hopes to celebrate a long-sought goal finally achieved.
``I still got a job to do and that's to try and win this division,'' he said.
