CLEMSON — Saturday was an emotional game for Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik.

With 12:15 to play in the second quarter, head coach Dabo Swinney called timeout and took his star quarterback out of the game. Tears swelled up in Klubnik’s eyes as cheers poured down from the nearly 80,000 fans that were on hand to watch the Tigers’ 45-10 victory over Furman.

“It brought me to tears. It really did,” Klubnik said. “It was really cool.”

Saturday was not the first time the fans at Memorial Stadium saw Klubnik get emotional. It was in the Tigers’ home finale last year when he showed similar emotions. However, in that instance, it followed a heartbreaking loss to rival South Carolina.

Klubnik was visibly upset following the loss to the Gamecocks, a game in which he played well until that one bad decision he made as the Tigers moved closer to tying the game.

Facing second down-and-10 from the South Carolina 18-yard line with 16 seconds to play, Klubnik rolled to his right, where he was pressured. Instead of throwing the ball away, he tried to force a pass to Phil Mafah. The ball was thrown behind the Clemson running back, who reached back to try and make the catch, but instead tipped the ball in the air.

Carolina’s Demetrius Knight, Jr., intercepted the tipped pass with 12 seconds to play to secure the Gamecocks’ 17-14 win.

Klubnik was devastated.

Now, almost a year later, the Austin, Texas native is ready to erase that horrible memory from his brain and exact some revenge on the Gamecocks.

“It is a season of its own,” Klubnik said about playing Clemson’s biggest rival. “It is time to flip the script and go get after it.”

Last year, Klubnik completed 24 of 36 passes for 280 yards, while also running for another 62 yards. His 342 total yards were 12 yards better than LaNorris Sellers’ 330 total yards, but no one remembers any of that, they just remember Sellers game-winning TD and Klubnik’s interception.

After all that is what a rivalry is all about. It’s about who made the biggest plays in the biggest moments and who did not.

Is Klubnik ready to get some revenge on the Gamecocks?

“I am definitely looking forward to it,” he said.

Klubnik is not the only Tiger looking forward to avenging last year’s loss to South Carolina.

“This game has a lot on it,” wide receiver Antonio Williams said. “This game is a season of its own. We are definitely looking forward to going down there and coming out victorious.”

Linebacker Sammy Brown, despite finishing the game with 9 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack, watched most of the fourth quarter on the sideline for some reason, including on Sellers’ 20-yard TD run with 1:08 to play.

“It definitely is a punch in the gut. It feels really bad,” Brown said. “So, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.”

According to Brown, how the Tigers do against Carolina next week will make or break this season.

“It is a season of its own, you have to put a lot into it,” he said.

It’s a game, in a season that has not gone as planned, that can leave a good mark on what otherwise has been a challenging year.