SCSU 'X' Factor

Photo: SCSU defensive end Xavier Littleberry, a former Clemson Tiger, is looking forward to Saturday's game against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

By BRIAN LINDER, T&D Sports Editor

Remember 2004?

Xavier Littleberry does. In 2004, he was on Clemson’s sidelines when the Gamecocks and Tigers butted heads in a brawl that made national headlines. It was an ugly chapter in a rivalry that Littleberry was thrown into the middle of the second he signed on the dotted line to become a Tiger. It was a rivalry he counted on, and a rivalry that was taken away the day he was dismissed from Clemson’s team ... or so he thought.

Saturday, Littleberry, who had 1.5 sacks in last week’s 24-13 win over Bethune-Cookman, will take his first snaps against South Carolina when his South Carolina State Bulldogs take the short trip up I-26 to face the Gamecocks. If it was ever a secret that he’s not a Carolina fan, well, it isn’t anymore.

"I will tell coach (Buddy) Pough, he should know how I feel about this game," the Bulldogs’ defensive end said. "I told my position coach (David Blanchard) yesterday and my defensive coordinator (John Hendrick) ... I am ready.

"The brawl itself is a real good reason that I can’t wait for this weekend," he added. "When I first got here, I started figuring out there was a rivalry between them and South Carolina State too."

It doesn’t matter that this will be the first time the two schools have met on the football field, Littleberry said the close proximity makes it a rivalry nonetheless.

"I think (the distance) is why," he said. "And, then it’s a real big game for us. Nobody on our team likes South Carolina.

"Before I got here, they were telling me they were going to try to schedule South Carolina for this year, and I was happy about that," he continued. "I was transferring, and I had other (Division I) offers, but two of my coaches that coached me at Clemson wanted me to come here so I felt comfortable because they were here. They were telling me about South Carolina being on the schedule, and I felt real good about that because I was like, ‘Oh, I’m at Clemson now, and we don’t like them. If I go to South Carolina State, I’ll still have a chance to play them.’"

So, Saturday Littleberry will take his first snaps against South Carolina (he didn’t play in the brawl game, and sat out the 05 season), and he will take them with bad intentions.

"Saturday, I set a goal for at least four sacks," he said. "If I can go out there and get two or three sacks and maybe three tackles, that is a good game for me. I am 100 percent the whole game. I am a little messed up in my wrist, but I don’t care. As long as I beat up Blake Mitchell that is a perfect game for me. I want to shine and just put on a show.

"My true pass-rush skill is going to shine this game," he continued. "If (Mitchell) wants to have a big game, I don’t think he should hold the ball for more than three or four seconds because I am most definitely coming. I watched film on both of their tackles, I play right end, but their left tackle -- he looked athletic -- but he is still, my speed -- I am 260 pounds and I run a low 4.6 40. He is 300-something pounds, and I am going to try to make him work this game."

Bulletin board material, but Littleberry said he didn’t care about that. Everything that has happened over the past three years has built up into the perfect storm of emotion inside the former recruit from Camden Military. This was a game he was supposed to play in four times, not once. And, while he said he still has some Clemson blood running through his veins, he isn’t shy when it comes to talking about the sour taste his dismissal from the Tigers has left in his mouth.

"I am doing real good (at SC State)," he said. "I still think about what happened ... my last days at Clemson, and I don’t want to get into too much detail. But, the whole thing was a fluke. My thing was, if coach (Tommy) Bowden didn’t want me there all he had to do was tell me. I got into an incident in 04, and that kind of had some lean into him releasing me from the team, but the other incident was ‘BS’. People can think what they want and say what they want. But, unless they were actually there ... and, then all they have to do is read about what happened and pay attention."

Thankfully, that’s all behind him now and Saturday -- if things go the way he wants them to -- he could put a whole lot of "what might have beens" to rest.

"First of all, that feeling, I came from that environment," he said. "The feeling of going back to that environment ... it’s going to feel like I never left. We don’t have to worry about the options and the quarterback scrambling and all that stuff. I think my game is really going to come out.

"Everybody has been saying we could be the next App State," he added. "I really agree. I really feel like we can beat these cats."