BATON ROUGE -- Saturday's huge matchup between LSU and Texas A&M brought a ton to Baton Rouge, including basketball icon and LSU alumnus Shaquille O'Neal.

O'Neal spoke to WBRZ in front of a truck selling his officially licensed gummies called Shaq-A-Licious XL Gummies.

"I come back once a year and show my face. This is the place where the character Shaq was cultivated right in my marketing class, so I appreciate the fans," O'Neal said.

Shaq took the time to meet with fans of all ages while the truck was giving out bags of his gummies.

"I mean, just come and say hi to some old friends and some fans and beat people up who were Texas A&M gear," O'Neal joked.

WBRZ spoke with several fans who called the experience of meeting O'Neal surreal.

"It was very cool, I know he's taller than me for sure," Mason Kelley said.

"I used to have his poster in my room whenever I was playing basketball in high school. I played for the St. Amant Gators," Jenna Kelley said.

In the spirit of Tailgate on 2, O'Neal was asked what foods he thinks should always be at a good Louisiana tailgate.

"Anything Cajun. Hot boudin, cold couscous, sausage and rice, anything from Gino's and then TJ Ribs," O'Neal said.

By the time Shaq came to meet with fans around 4:30 p.m., it had stopped raining, but that wasn't the case for many who were out tailgating in the hours preceding it.

Over by the LSU Law Center's East Annex building, several tailgates had set up tents from the night before. One of those was the Brohan Davey Tailgate, which had a large inflatable tent.

Their tailgate was using a generator to inflate it; however, the water would sometimes mess with the generator, causing the tent to start deflating. Thanks to turning it back on each time, as well as some large tripod-like stands, they managed to keep it up.

"We're trying our best. We learned that the inflatable tent is not the most rain-resistant you can get for a day when it's coming down pretty hard, but we're making the most of it. We're gonna support the tigers," Kyle Harvey with Brohan Davey said.

WBRZ got to meet several of the neighboring tailgates with tents. One of them had some young fans soaking in LSU game day.

"I love to dance and listen to music and cheer LSU on to win," LSU fan London Barrow said.

LSU and Southern do not have home games until November 15. If you want your tailgate's story to be told that day, email jcollins@wbrz.com. Share what game you'll be at, where you'll be set up, and a little about your tailgate. WBRZ will come by and share its story.