The No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide have a tough matchup in Week 5 as they go on the road to take on the No. 16 Mississippi State Bulldogs. It's a contest that led former head coach Nick Saban to admit that he always had trouble against this particular opponent in his career. On Friday, he issued a warning to the program not to get caught in a trap game.

While visiting the “Pat McAfee Show” on the “College GameDay” set in Iowa City, Iowa, Saban shared his insights on how he would ensure his players would maintain focus going into hostile environments. He followed that up with some sage advice for Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer on how to attack Mississippi State on the road to hopefully avoid the trap game scenario.

“I always talk about playing one game at a time, one play at a time, so players stay focused on what they need to do,” Saban said. “Especially playing on the road, where the momentum of the game can really swing on you. You gotta do a great job in terms of focusing on good execution so that you don't give the other team the momentum in the game… Alabama's going to Mississippi State. Mississippi State can score points…

“It's always a trap game for Alabama to go to Mississippi State,” Saban continued. “It was one of the hardest games for me to get our players up to respect Mississippi State, for as good as they were, to play in that environment over there where you got cowbells ringing in your ears for days after you play there, and be able to go there and have focus on that game and play well in that game.”

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While the seven-time national championship-winning head coach claims he had a tough time against the Bulldogs throughout his career, he owns a dominant 21-1 record against Mississippi State when he was coaching Alabama. Maybe they played the Crimson Tide well, but it was not a close record between the two teams when Saban was still actively coaching.

This pristine SEC matchup is scheduled to kick off on Saturday, October 3 at 12 p.m. EST. The Bulldogs are the highest-ranked opponent the Crimson Tide has faced so far this year.