Gus Malzahn is a man of routine, and fortunately for him, his routine is not going to be interrupted by next week’s Thursday night game at Kansas State.

Auburn has a bye this week, which will allow the Tigers to stay on their normal game week schedule. They’ll practice Wednesday and Thursday, take Friday and Saturday off and then resume Sunday with what Malzahn called “a normal Tuesday practice.”

Thursday night games typically present a lot of logistical challenges for coaches.

“If it was this Thursday, it would be a big effect,” Malzahn said Monday night on his weekly radio show. “But the fact that we have a week off and play Thursday, it’s really not that big a deal.”

When Auburn has a Saturday game, Friday is a walk-through, Saturday is kickoff and Sunday is a light practice to correct mistakes and look at film. Thus, taking Friday and Saturday off does not impact their routine.

Instead, the Tigers will hold their Tuesday full-pads practice on Sunday night, another full-pads practice on Monday, shorts and helmets on Tuesday, travel to Manhattan on Wednesday and play Thursday.

The routine remains the same, the schedule is just moved up by a couple days. That has to put Malzahn’s mind at ease.

Kansas State has a bye of its own after a big comeback win on the road at Iowa State this past Saturday.

Malzahn said the Wildcats do some of the same things as Auburn on offense, giving defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson extra time to prepare.

“Defensively, they don’t do a lot of things, but what they do, they do extremely well,” Malzahn said. “Offensively, they’re a little bit like us. They like to run their quarterback, and they’re unique with some of their play-actions.”