Many may claim their own, but when late November rolls around, so, too, does the nation’s greatest rivalry as Auburn and Alabama prepare for the 85th Iron Bowl, held this year at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

There have been no shortage of legendary performances, from 1972’s “Punt Bama Punt” to both of Bo Jackson’s games in 1982 and ’83 and the Chris Davis Kick-6.

Alabama enters the latest iteration of the rivalry ranked No. 1 for the 4th time in the past 5 Iron Bowls. They face an Auburn team that has been ranked in 4 of the 5 meetings. While past Iron Bowls have been defined more often by dazzling rushing displays and spectacular plays on special teams, this year’s showdown will likely be decided by which quarterback has the better game.

Last season Bo Nix was the more experienced QB in the duel, facing Mac Jones, who was making just his 3rd career start in place of an injured Tua Tagovailoa.  Jones outplayed the Auburn freshman, passing for 335 yards and 4 touchdowns, but the Tigers’ 48-45 win was decided by a 114-yard rushing performance from JaTarvious Whitlow and a 100-yard pick-6 from Zakoby McClain.

While there’s no Jaylen Waddle this year to score 4 touchdowns for the Tide, Alabama brings in one of the nation’s most potent offenses. The Crimson Tide average more than 366 yards through the air and have scored at least 3 passing touchdowns in 4 games this season.

With the availability of Tank Bigsby TBD, the success of Auburn’s offense will fall squarely on the shoulders of Nix, no matter how competent Shaun Shivers and D.J. Williams looked against Tennessee. Away from Jordan-Hare, Nix’s completion percentage drops almost 9 full points, and he has thrown 10 picks on the road to just 1 at home. Nix is just 4-5 as a starter on the road.

Despite his propensity to play a little more recklessly on the road, Nix has put together the best 3-game stretch of his young career. And the Auburn deep passing game is quickly emerging as a legitimate threat, with the speedy Anthony Schwartz and jump-ball champion Seth Williams.

Alabama’s secondary hasn’t allowed more than 163 yards since mid-October, but it was gashed by Texas A&M and Ole Miss. If Auburn wins, it’s likely going to be a shootout like last year — 173 yards from Nix isn’t going to cut it. He’s going to need an Auburn QB performance for the ages, one that puts him on the following list with his father among the greatest games by an Auburn QB in Iron Bowl history.

5. Jason Campbell (2004)

It took a half, but Campbell looked every bit deserving of Heisman consideration after leading Auburn back from a 6-0 halftime deficit to beat Alabama 21-13 and preserve the Tigers’ unbeaten season.

Auburn entered the game No. 2 in the nation, facing a struggling 6-4 Tide squad, yet Campbell had just 64 yards and an interception in the 1st half. He completed 8 of 9 passes in the 3rd quarter for 143 yards and led the Tigers on 3 long scoring drives in the 2nd half.

The play of Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown may veil the importance of Campbell, who finished 18-of-24 for 224 yards and a touchdown. But his ability to stay poised and prevent a national championship contender from an ugly upset merits his spot on the list.

4. Patrick Nix (1993)

The last time the Iron Bowl was not on national television due to Auburn’s probation, Nix came off the bench for an injured Stan White to rally the unbeaten Tigers past the reigning national champions.

With Auburn trailing Alabama 14-5 in the 3rd quarter and White forced to the sideline, the sophomore Nix, who had thrown just 12 passes in his career, entered the game on a 4th-and-15 after 1st-year coach Terry Bowden elected not to attempt a 52-yard field goal. Nix connected with Frank Sanders on a 35-yard touchdown to cut the Tide’s lead to 2. Auburn went on to win 22-14, capping an 11-0 campaign and the program’s 1st undefeated season without a tie since it won the 1957 national title.

3. Pat Sullivan (1970)

Alabama capitalized on an Auburn linebacker group ravaged by injury, jumping out to a 17-0 lead in the 1st quarter, a deficit of a magnitude that had never been erased to that point in Iron Bowl history.

Sullivan, who went on to win that year’s SEC MVP and the next year’s Heisman, spurred the historic comeback with 317 passing yards and 4 total touchdowns, including a 17-yard strike to Robby Robinett to give Auburn their first lead of the game in the 4th quarter. The Tigers held on for a 33-28 victory.

Auburn went on to finish the season 9-2 and No. 10 in the nation, with a win in the Gator Bowl over Archie Manning and Ole Miss.

2. Nick Marshall (2014)

This is the only losing quarterback on the list. But Marshall’s school records of 456 passing yards and 505 total yards belong near the top despite the 55-44 Alabama win.

Marshall was aided by an incredible performance from Sammie Coates, who caught 5 passes for 206 yards and had scores of 34 and 68 yards as the Tigers opened up a 26-21 lead at the half. Marshall added a 5-yard scoring pass to Quan Bray in the 3rd quarter as Auburn grew its lead to 12 before Alabama turned things around.

Auburn ran 90 plays and had 630 yards against what was the SEC’s top defense, the most in Iron Bowl history.

1. Cam Newton (2010)

Before a performance known as “The Comeback,” Alabama surged to a seemingly insurmountable 24-0 lead midway through the 2nd quarter and a 314-2 advantage in total yards over the No. 2 Tigers inside Bryant-Denny.

Just when it seemed Newton’s Heisman hopes had faded and Auburn’s title dreams dashed, Newton engineered  a 1-yard touchdown run and scoring passes of 36 yards to Emory Blake, 70 yards to Terrell Zachery and  7 yards to Philip Lutzenkirchen as the Tigers took their 1st lead with just less than 12 minutes remaining in the game.

The 24-point comeback is the largest in Iron Bowl history, and Auburn went on to win the BCS national championship over Oregon.