Back to business: USC

CLEMSON -- Clemson coach Dabo Swinney had a considerable amount of family in town to celebrate his 40th birthday this weekend. The postgame celebration following the Tigers' victory over Virginia on Saturday also incorporated Clemson's first Atlantic Division title.

Swinney stayed up late into the night, reveling in 15th-ranked Clemson's first ACC title game appearance.

But on Sunday it was back to the West Zone offices, back to watching film, and back to the routine of preparing for the next opponent, which this week happens to be rival South Carolina.

Swinney believes the routine will keep the Tigers (8-3) focused despite Saturday's game in Columbia (noon, ESPN) having no impact on Clemson's postseason.

With a win over Georgia Tech in the ACC title game (Dec. 5, 8 p.m.), the Tigers would advance to their first

Orange Bowl since winning the national title in 1981. With a loss, the Tigers would likely earn a bid to the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta.

"We have a standard of excellence we are committed to," Swinney said. "As long as we stay committed to that, we will be OK."

Swinney likened the situation to facing and routing FCS opponent Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers were sandwiched between a win at Miami and an important Atlantic Division game against Florida State.

"One of the best things this staff has done is we just go on to the next game, the next play; it's no different for next week," Swinney said. "(Despite clinching before kickoff Saturday), we still played with great effort and a will to win."

The Tigers have been consistent during their six-game win streak, scoring at least 34 points in each game, despite having a first-year coordinator, a first-year quarterback and a head coach in his first full season.

"We've been hearing about emotional letdowns for seven straight weeks," Clemson tight end Michael Palmer said. "That's not something we're concerned about at all. I think our team will come out focused and ready for South Carolina."

On Saturday, Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips indicated an interest in moving the Clemson-South Carolina rivalry game to the beginning of the season -- to avoid the high-effort, high-intensity rivalry game falling the week before the conference championship games.

Swinney's Tigers now face high-stress situations in back-to-back weeks, but Clemson's coach likes the rivalry game where it is on the schedule.

"It's important to both fan bases," Swinney said. "It's a little different here because it's ACC versus SEC. It's for bragging rights. That's all it's about. It's not going to win us a conference championship. It's not going to lose us a championship.

"It's good old fashioned bragging rights."

Notes

Swinney enjoyed a major payday Saturday. With an Atlantic Division title, Swinney's base compensation increased from an ACC-low ($800,000) to the median of all ACC head coaches ($1.7 million). "Sure, it's great," Swinney said. "But it's never really been a motivating factor. That's not how I'm wired." … Da'Quan Bowers (knee) played 14 snaps Saturday, which was the workload Swinney expected, wanting to ease Bowers back into substantial playing time. … Swinney said the Tigers have no major injury issues heading into the regular season finale.