They all count the same.

Not this one.

No way, no how.

Ask anyone associated with South Carolina’s football program and they’ll tell you the same thing:

The Georgia’s game a must-win every year. Not only does it provide East frontrunner status in the first half of the SEC season, but it usually acts as a momentum boost heading into the meat of the schedule.

This year’s matchup is vastly different from the last couple. One team’s stumbling in while the other appears elite. A loss for Steve Spurrier’s group all but eliminates them from the division championship picture two weeks into September.

That hasn’t been said since 2008 when South Carolina dropped a Week 2 game at Vanderbilt before falling to the Bulldogs by a touchdown at home.

A loss would not only be a damaging blow to this team’s morale, but the Gamecocks would become one of the forgotten in a league with the brightest national spotlight.

Spurrier said on his Thursday night call-in show that he doesn’t think South Carolina’s played its best football yet, quite an understatement after the debacle against Texas A&M followed up by a nail-biting home win over East Carolina.

Though these Gamecocks may not have looked like a preseason Top 10 after their first two contests, Saturday is the opportunity to change that. Beating Georgia, the media darling led by Todd Gurley, would throw a wrench in the SEC’s perceived pecking order.

Spurrier’s goal-oriented mentality has worked out well for the Gamecocks during their current stretch of three consecutive Top 10 finishes, wins over Clemson and bowl victories. He mentions the importance of setting several before every season.

The Gamecocks’ goal of a league title game appearance and a College Football Playoff berth is still obtainable, but Georgia’s the turning point.

The same folks closing the casket on this year’s Gamecocks will be singing Spurrier’s praises Saturday evening if South Carolina tackles well and proves Williams-Brice is still one of the SEC’s most-feared venues with a win.

Should the Gamecocks play uninspired football and fall, it proves the 2014 squad’s not as good as we originally thought.