Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said Alex Spence will be his kicker when the fourth-ranked Tigers travel to Raleigh, N.C., Saturday to take on No. 20 NC State.

“Spence has had a heck of a week,” Swinney said after Wednesday’s practice. “We have a two-horse race to see who gets the other seat on the bus.”

Swinney spent the last part of practice working with the kickers. He said Christian Groomes and walk-on Drew Costa are battling it out to see who will take the seat next to Spence.

“We will make that decision tomorrow after practice,” the Clemson coach said.

Against Georgia Tech, Spence made all four of his kicks – three extra points and a 29-yard field goal. The field goal was more difficult than it sounds considering the rainy conditions and a slippery field, plus he was kicking it from the right hash mark. But he split the goal posts with the football for his third kick of the season.

“Spence has had a really good two weeks,” Swinney said. “He had a great week this week and really did a good job. I’m really encouraged. He definitely has a seat.”

Fields is out. Swinney reported cornerback back Mark Fields will not play against NC State. He is still having issues with the arch in his foot, which he hurt in the Tigers’ loss to Syracuse on Oct. 13.

“He is still kind of feeling it,” Swinney said. “But other than that, we should have all hands on deck.”

This will be the second straight game Fields will miss. Swinney announced on Tuesday fellow cornerback Marcus Edmond will miss his seventh straight game with a foot injury as well.

Where was Swinney when the first CFP rankings came out? Swinney said he forgot all about the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday night because he had better things to do with his time, such as trick-or-treating.

Swinney said he dressed up as Dr. Monster and no one recognized him.

“I had a good mask and some crazy hair and I actually had a doctor’s cap, so it worked out great. I had some ghost hands. I was Dr. Monster,” he said. “It was fun. I got a chance to walk around a little bit and spend some time with the boys.”

Swinney said his middle son, Drew, dressed up as Ron Burgundy. With all the excitement of being with his sons, Swinney forgot about the rankings until his wife, Kathleen, called him up to tell him about it.

“My wife was all excited about it, she called me, I actually, literally, forgot about it because I was in such a rush,” Swinney said. “I was trying to finish up and get out so I can get back, I literally had forgotten about it and Kath called me in the car and was like, ‘I know you don’t care, but I’m so happy we’re number four.’

“So I was a good husband for like ten seconds, and then I was like, ‘Kath, let’s just hope we are happy on Sunday.’ If we are happy on Sunday then that’s great because it really does not matter … it’s conversation, it’s programing, it’s good conversation, which is good for college football. If this, then that and what then, that’s great. It creates great conversation. It’s fun to think about that as a fan, but as a coach and as a player you are just killing brain cells because it just doesn’t matter.”