Ray Saliba’s menu is known and revered in Demopolis. Friday, a group of 100 young men gobbled down some of Saliba’s cooking hoping it was part of the recipe that could take down the No. 9 Auburn Tigers.

The Southern Mississippi Golden Eagle football team stopped in Demopolis Friday evening en route to Auburn for a game against the Tigers this afternoon.

“We needed a halfway point between Hattiesburg and Auburn and I emailed the Chamber of Commerce,” Gary Camp, Director of Football Operations at USM, said. “I came up here two weeks ago and checked (Napoleon’s) out. It was really good and it works out well for us.”

What Camp is hoping truly works out is that Napoleon’s dinner is the shot in the arm his Golden Eagles need to take down Auburn on the Plains at 11:30 today.

“Obviously, playing Auburn, or any SEC team, you’re going to get up for it,” he said. “The guys are excited to play in front of 85,000…it’s what you hope and dream of growing up.”