Nick Saban kept it honest.

It was Sept. 7, his first appearance on The Pat McAfee show and Alabama’s head coach was asked about his success against past assistants. Saban called what was then a 28-2 record — the Tide would lose days later to Steve Sarkisian and Texas — “misleading.” His argument? A lot of those games came against rebuilding programs.

But like Kirby Smart and Georgia, Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M, and eventually Sark and the Longhorns, Saban’s former disciples were forming powerhouses to take down UA. While Saban didn’t lower expectations, he did say keeping an impressive record would be “more challenging” moving forward.

Enter Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin. The former offensive coordinator took his first shot across the bow on Sunday when he claimed Saban had demoted defensive coordinator Kevin Steele. Saban didn’t take the bait and denied Kiffin’s theory.

Then, like he did a year ago, Saban praised Kiffin, whom he once fired before the national championship game in 2017.

“Ole Miss is a really, really good team,” Saban said Monday. ” … This is one of the best offensive teams in the country in terms of things that they do, multiples that they have, the way their players are coached and how they execute.

“They’re playing better on defense. This is a really, really good team. We’re going to have to play our best and we need to improve to be able to do that.”

The No. 15 Rebels (3-0) are averaging 52.7 points per game, the fourth-most in the country. Behind quarterback Jaxson Dart and Alabama native Quinshon Judkins, Ole Miss’ 526.7 yards of offense per game is the most 11th-most in the country and second in the SEC behind LSU.

It’ll be on Saban, Steele and maybe even secondary coach Travaris Robinson tasked with limiting Ole Miss’ tempo. The Tide has faced two fast-paced offenses in its first three games, both against Texas and USF. Saban said that No. 13 Alabama (2-1) was “a lot better” at getting its calls in a timely manner.

“(Kiffin) did a great job when he was here, and he’s done a great job there. The players do a great job of executing it, which is always a good sign of a well-coached team. I think he’s done a fantastic job there,” Saban said.

Alabama’s defense is coming off its best performance of the year against South Florida. It limited the Bulls to just a field goal and to a 2-for-6 conversion rate on fourth down. Dallas Turner recorded 2.5 sacks, a career-high and his first sacks of the season. The Tide will look to match the offense with its newly re-named starter Jalen Milroe.

This Saturday’s kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. on CBS and be the start of SEC play for both teams.

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Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].