09/06 at 11:24 PM

Cameron Newton called it “probably one of the hardest decisions I’ve made in my recent life.”

This went beyond telling one of his closest mentors since high school, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen, that he would sign with Auburn instead of the Bulldogs this past winter.

He had to face up and break the news to “Miss Megan,” Mullen’s wife, whom he grew close to while playing at Florida and, again, during his recruitment between junior college and return to the SEC.

“That was one of the hardest things,” Newton said. “We had such a close relationship.”

Newton said his decision to play at Auburn, a relatively late development during his recruitment from Blinn (Texas) Community College, wasn’t all his. That made it even tougher to deliver the news to

Mullen, who personally recruited him as a quarterback out of Westlake High in Atlanta while a number of other schools wanted him to play tight end or somewhere on defense.

“I had to clear it with the whole nine yards, not just with how I feel,” Newton said. “I had to go through so many people to see what they think, whether my family or the closest people toward me. It felt best that my career would be played in Auburn.”

And that was where it ended in January.

Newton went on to win the starting job within months of arriving at Auburn and then blew away his already lofty expectations by totaling 357 yards of offense and five touchdowns in Saturday’s season-opening victory against Arkansas State.

Mullen moved on, and it appears Mississippi State as a whole has, too. Using both the athletic Chris Relf and redshirt freshman Tyler Russell, a prototypical pocket passer, the Bulldogs rolled
Memphis on Saturday with Mullen’s versatile, spread offense leading the way.

There will be two collisions Thursday. The one between Auburn and Mississippi State’s high-powered offenses and another involving Newton and a volatile, cowbell-ringing Bulldogs fanbase.

Asked if he expected an unpleasant reaction from fans he spurned to play at Auburn, Newton smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

“I hope not,” he said. “We’re just going to go out there and do what we signed up to do, play football.”

Mullen was more matter of fact Monday about his and Newton’s relationship, as he talked about Newton just like he would any other quarterback in the SEC.

“I am never confident on a recruit ’til that piece of paper comes through on a fax machine,” he said. “I recruited him hard when I was at Florida, out of high school, out of Westlake High School, we recruited him hard at Blinn.

“He decided, I guess, to go closer to home.”

This is a storyline that looms large over Thursday’s nationally televised game, but it hasn’t exactly been buzzing at the Auburn Athletic Complex.

On Sunday, tailback Mario Fannin was asked about how Newton’s connections to Mullen and Mississippi State would affect his preparations.

A puzzled look came over Fannin’s face.

“I don’t really know the story,” Fannin said. “I will say that Cam will be prepared. He’s a guy who’s going to work hard and he’s a guy that’s going to put in everything he can in order for us to win the game. We’re backing him 100 percent and we have total faith in him.”

Coach Gene Chizik said the topic hadn’t even come up in his meetings with Newton since Saturday’s game.

It likely won’t be broached over the next 48 hours, either.

“Those things are in the past, and he has to go out and play football,” Chizik said. “He’s focused on being a better teammate and a better football player and helping Auburn win. I think all that other stuff is water under the bridge.”

Newton said he just wants to win and move on to the next game, another big, ESPN primetime matchup with Clemson. There might be just a little part of him, though, that wants to show Mullen just how much he’s matured and improved since the 2008 season.

“I had a lot of mature things I needed to step up on and coach Mullen always rode me about that,” he said. “I was too young and naive to notice it, but now that I look back on the things that I have done I just laugh about it and am really somewhat embarrassed.

“Our relationship is a long one and goes far beyond just football.”

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