Rivalry week has arrived.
UCF and USF renew the war on I-4 Friday, but the war of words began earlier this week.
"You're born to hate UCF," Bulls senior defensive tackle Todd Chandler said. "You inherit that hate once you sign that letter of intent with South Florida."
"Now a days with social media, those guys hear it and see it all the time," Willie Taggart, the head coach of USF, added. "They have no choice but to dislike them."
While the Bulls dished out the trash talk, UCF's players took at different approach.
"Talking, you can save that for the fans and everything," UCF senior linebacker Terrance Plummer said. "Us as players, we need to be focused on what our objective is."
No matter what they say, both teams know what's on the line. UCF got their first win in the series last year in Orlando. Now, the Bulls hope to steal back the spotlight.
"A rivalry game, you know, it's wins and losses," Chandler said. "Before that (last year's win), we were just beating the breaks off those guys. They got their first win and we're trying to take our championship belt back from them."
"Once that whistle blows and the game starts its 60 minutes of football," UCF head coach George O'Leary said. "They're going to get our best shot and I'm sure they'll give us their best shot."
So what's at steak on Friday?
For UCF, they need a win to keep pace at the top of the conference, hoping to capture a second-straight AAC title.
Much like last year, USF hopes to play the role of spoiler. They'd love noting more than to knock their arch rivals out of title contention.
USF's Nate Godwin put it best: "I have friends that play for UCF," he said, "but we don't like them and they don't like us."