For the first time in a decade, the Texas A&M Aggies will host the Missouri Tigers at Kyle Field.

Last time out, the visiting squad came away with a seven-point win — Tigers quarterback Maty Mauk leading the way past Kyle Allen and the Aggies — and followed it with a home loss in 2021. The stakes weren’t nearly as big that time, but much has changed in 10 years.

This year, the Aggies have already recorded their home loss for the year. That alone makes Saturday’s matchup imperative.

“Notre Dame was like a punch in the mouth to us,” Texas A&M defensive lineman Nic Scourton said. “That game hurts. You know, we can’t get that one back.”

If Missouri walks out of Kyle Field with a win, it’ll be commended for nabbing a strong conference win on the road. The narrative will be that it is a bona fide top-10 team and nothing less.

In that scenario, the Aggies fall out of the top-25. They’re handed their second home loss of the season and any chances at making a splash in the postseason are nearly eliminated. The other way around, however, keeps them afloat.

If the Aggies want to hang on at home against a strong opponent, they’ll have to lean into the home advantage their stadium creates. They’ll have to lock down the secondary and find momentum on offense behind whichever quarterback is named the starter.

The latter might be the toughest of them all.

Especially since the Aggies might be the only ones still figuring out who that is.

“I know on their depth chart it says (Conner Weigman) is the starting quarterback,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said at his weekly press conference, “but I mean, that’s just semantics in my opinion. (Marcel Reed) is 3-0 as the starter and whether (Weigman) is listed as questionable or whatever, I don’t see them going back.”

Through three starts, Reed has thrown for over 500 yards and rushed for nearly 200. He’s accounted for eight total touchdowns and given the Aggies a sense of consistency that they haven’t had with Weigman in any of the seasons he’s been in College Station.

Reed is raw and still developing, but he’s earned the respect of both his teammates and his coach — who’s said he gets better each time he takes the field.

And if that’s the case, Drinkwitz has a point.

“They’re 3-0,” he continued. “They clearly have a different offense identity with (Reed) as the quarterback and they’ve developed an offense that fits around his system. … if they go with the other one, they go with the other one, but they’ve already kind of built the offense toward Marcel.”

Whichever quarterback the Aggies trot out to face the toughest opponent since Notre Dame, the Aggies will have to rally around, both for the sake of the game and their season.

“We’ll continue to manage the quarterback room in the same manner that we have and play the guy we feel gives us the best chance to win,” Elko said before the Southwest Classic.

If that ends up being Weigman, another rusty performance could end up being their downfall. If it’s Reed, more offensive stagnancy could do the same thing.

For Texas A&M, it’s a matter of picking a potential poison.

Anything to avoid another “punch in the mouth.”