Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe temporarily lost his job for a week earlier this season, but he’s responded with arguably the best football of his career since returning to the starting lineup in Week 4 vs. Ole Miss.

SEC Nation aired a feature Saturday on Milroe, who leads the Crimson Tide vs. Tennessee today at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama coach Nick Saban told SEC Network’s Marty Smith. his decision to start Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchnor at quarterback in Week 3 vs. South Florida — and later to use redshirt freshman Ty Simpson rather than Milroe after benching Buchnor — was “an experiment.”

“There were things Jalen needed to learn to play the position,” Saban said. “… I think that was a step for him. And even though sometimes, it was probably very disappointing, it was also something that he learned from. And it’s also been very helpful to his development.”

While sitting and watching as both Buchnor and Simpson struggled in a 17-3 win over USF, Milroe said he has leaned heavily on a motto adopted by his high school team in Katy, Texas — F.A.M.I.LY. The acronym stands for “Forget About Me, I Love You.” It changed his perspective, he said.

“The ultimate goal going into that week was to win,” Milroe said. “No matter who was in, no matter what the circumstance was, my job was to be the best teammate I can be.

“… (The F.A.M.I.LY. acronym) let everyone on the team know, you can’t do it by yourself. You need the guys around you. When you see your guys on the ground, go pick him up. It’s acknowledging, it takes a whole village and not just yourself. I’m going to always lean on that.”

Here’s video:

Kickoff Saturday for Alabama-Tennessee is set for 2:30 p.m. on CBS.