Nick Saban is all about routine. It’s what helps him focus.

It is that same focus he expects his Alabama Crimson Tide to have Saturday when it hosts Chattanooga. On Thursday, during his appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Saban was asked how he keeps his team ready for opponents who are deemed “trap games.”

Cue the routine.

“I stay focused this way all the time because I try to prepare with a certain routine every day,” he said. “I get up every day. I let the dog out. I have a cup of coffee. I get two Little Debbie cookies. That’s how I start. I shower and shave. Same thing when I got to work every day. Routine sort of helps people stay in the moment. That’s what I try to focus on and that’s what I try to get our players to focus on.

“Your character shouldn’t be affected by someone else’s opinion. Your competitive character shouldn’t be affected by that either.”

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Saban shared he has always been routine-oriented. In fact, in today’s world, he joked, it probably goes by another description.

“Back when I was growing up, they didn’t have such things as obsessive-compulsive personalities that like to do the same things and the same routines all the time and have things in a certain order,” he said. “But I’m sure, if I got diagnosed, that would probably be the … (OCD).”

McAfee contends Saban must take an off day. Sundays?

“Every day,” he said of his routine. “We don’t take Sundays off, not during the season at least. That’s probably one of the most challenging days for you as a college coach. You have to clean up the last game, grade the last game, make corrections, then you got to start on the next opponent so you can at least make those corrections with the players on Monday and start to install a new game plan for the next opponent.”

So the Alabama coach admits he might even throw himself an extra little treat that day.

“Sunday is a really difficult day for us,” he said with a smile. “I might even eat a little extra Debbie in the morning.”

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.