Minutes after they were crowned Atlantic Division champs and honored in their locker room by ACC commissioner John Swofford, the Clemson Tigers were already faced with questions about their upcoming game against rival South Carolina.

For South Carolina, Saturday’s rivalry game is about snapping a three-game losing streak and keeping this year’s seniors from losing out for the third straight time in the regular season. For Clemson, it’s about keeping the momentum rolling into their first-ever appearance in the ACC championship game and not looking ahead to their game against Georgia Tech.

Clemson has won the past two games in this series, but to coach Dabo Swinney, bragging rights aside, this game is about being able to run the ball, winning the matchups up front, and playing a similarly balanced game to what they were able to do in last week’s win over Virginia.

South Carolina’s defense, though, will make that difficult.

The Gamecocks, though struggling mightily on offense under Steve Spurrier, have the nation’s No. 17-ranked defense, allowing 308.73 total yards per game. Their scoring defense is holding opponents to 20.73 points per game and Swinney is well-aware of senior linebacker Eric Norwood, who is second in the SEC with seven sacks this season. He also has two interceptions, 10.5 tackles for loss, and has blocked three kicks.

“They’re disruptive in the defensive line,” Swinney said. “They really get after you up front. Norwood is an extremely instinctive player, he makes a lot of plays in a lot of different ways. They move him around, he lines up different places. Their safeties are outstanding. They’ve very good tacklers, as good as we’ve played. And then they’re extremely well coached … They’re young at corner, but very talented and have really improved over the course of the season, so we’ll have our hands full.”