KeAndre Lambert-Smith is a man on a mission.

Why did one of the top receivers in the portal pick Auburn? KLS had his reasons, and he's ready to finish his career on a high note.

WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith (Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers)

Only two things have been able to slow down KeAndre Lambert-Smith this preseason: His ankle — and the heat.

The ankle kept him out of full-speed practice for a few days, as he rolled it up on a drill when a defensive back got a little too close to him in what was supposed to be soft trail coverage. But, recently, he’s been back on the field with no limitations.

“It’s good,” Lambert-Smith said Thursday afternoon, nine days before his Auburn debut. “I’m out there, (at) 100 percent.”

The heat is still out there, too. The Virginia native and former Penn State receiver isn’t used to playing football in these temperatures and that much humidity.

“I've gotten adjusted to it now,” Lambert-Smith said. “Just hydrate a lot, because I sweat a lot — walking anywhere, doing anything. It's been an adjustment I had to get used to, especially coming from up north. I mean, it got hot up there in the summer, but this is a different type of heat.

“The first day of camp, my steps were getting light. I started seeing stuff.”

If the ankle injury and the new climate were supposed to take a serious toll on Lambert-Smith, they haven’t to this point.

As offensive coordinator Derrick Nix said earlier this month, Lambert-Smith has exceeded the expectations that were placed on him when he picked Auburn over a host of other schools in the transfer portal in the second window.

“He’s done a great job,” Nix said. “Besides his athletic ability and being a great receiver, (he’s) being more of a veteran guy and a leader in that room with all those young wideouts, (showing) how to do things the right way. I thought his summer was excellent, getting ready.

“You can just tell that he’s done this before.”

That’s an understatement, given what Lambert-Smith has done in relation to the rest of the wide receiver room at Auburn.