Columbia, SC (WLTX) - The Head Ball Coach says if South Carolina's going to go to Atlanta in December, they'll have to go through Gainesville.

Spurrier acknowledged that this weekend's showdown against Florida will likely decide the Eastern Division.  

"If we're going to win the division, we still have to beat Florida," Spurrier said.

USC, of course, had a loss to LSU 23-21 in Baton Rouge last Saturday. But the setback didn't really change the landscape of the race. "All of our goals are still out there," Spurrier said.

One of his goals this week is to get the ball more to running back Marcus Lattimore. Lattimore had just 37 yards on 13 attempts last week.

As for the health of his star junior, Spurrier said Lattimore was "running fine" at practice Monday, apparently having mostly recovered from a bruised hip.

Spurrier also wants to see an improvement from last week for quarterback Connor Shaw. Spurrier says Shaw ran a bit too early on some plays, missing on some opportunities to throw downfield.

As he is every time he plays his alma mater and former coaching stop, Spurrier was asked by reporters if he gets nostalgic about playing his old school.

"Florida's always going to be my school," Spurrier said. "We're [he and his family] Gators but we're Gamecocks now. When my coaching days are over, I'll be more of a Gator."

Spurrier says when he quits coaching, he'll probably go back down to Florida, but says he intends to keep a condo at the Carolina Walk.

As for competitively this year, he says he'd like to see the Gators finish second in the SEC East--to the Gamecocks, of course.

USC takes on Florida Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on CBS/WLTX, and we'll have a pre-game special starting at 2:30 p.m.