Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze had just gotten off the podium at SEC Media Days in July and was making his next stop through the media carwash: a television interview with SEC Network.

To the surprise of few, it didn’t take long for Freeze to be asked about coaching within the same state lines of Alabama head coach Nick Saban.

And to the surprise of even fewer, Freeze gushed with respect.

“I respect the King,” Freeze said. “I respect the gold standard. I respect the heck out of it.”

Freeze went on to say that he considers Saban a good friend, adding that the two coaches and their wives have previously vacationed together.

“I know that’s hard for a lot of people to hear,” Freeze admitted, knowing being on the opposite side of the Iron Bowl rivalry could get in the way of future Freeze-Saban family vacations.

But don’t get it twisted.

As much respect as he has for Saban and the job he’s done with the football program up in Tuscaloosa, he understands that one of his biggest tasks as the head coach at Auburn is to beat the Crimson Tide.

“I want to beat him,” Freeze said. “I want to measure ourselves against the gold standard.”

Beating Saban on Saturday wouldn’t be a first for Freeze.

When Freeze was the head coach at Ole Miss from 2012-16, he and the Rebels beat Saban and the Crimson Tide twice in five meetings – once in 2014 and once in 2015.

With those pair of wins, Freeze is one of just three coaches to beat “the King” more than once. Former Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn and former LSU head coach Les Miles are the only others, each with three wins over Saban.

Come Saturday, Freeze will have an opportunity to pick up his third win against Saban. And if he learned anything from playing Saban-led teams in the past, he knows Saturday’s Iron Bowl matchup at Jordan-Hare Stadium will be a physical test for the Tigers – especially on offense.

“His teams are always physical and they’re always going to tackle well. You see that very vividly on these tapes, also,” Freeze said.

Conversely, Auburn is coming off a game that saw its defense miss more tackles and the Tigers’ previous three games combined, Freeze said Monday.

Not to mention, the Tigers were dominated in the trenches by the New Mexico Aggies in Saturday’s humbling 31-10 loss.

“Lesson in humility, for sure,” Freeze said. “As good as we were offensive line, defensive line, special teams at Arkansas, we were equally as bad in all three Saturday.”

And that leaves Freeze and the Tigers having to go full-stop, leave what’s in the rearview mirror in the rearview mirror and try to turn the page – something Freeze said Monday he’s uncertain how his team will respond to.

As of Freeze’s Monday morning press conference, he’d yet to meet with the team as a whole.

“I wish I had a better pulse for that, but I haven’t seen them yet,” Freeze said. “But that’s going to be a good test for all of us to see how we respond.”

But how, exactly, will Freeze know if his team is responding to the challenge?

It comes down to the Tigers’ preparation.

Last week’s practices left plenty to be desired, Freeze said Monday. So much so he actually told his wife he was anxious heading into Saturday’s game against New Mexico State given the effort during the week.

So that’s where turning the page has to start this week.

And knowing what Freeze knows about Saban-led football teams, not only will the effort need to be there in practice this week, but there’s an additional layer, too.

“Tuesday’s practice needs to be physical. It needs to set the tone of what this game’s going to be like, and you’re going to get punched in the mouth this game,” Freeze said. “You better be ready to respond. It’s going to be a physical test of your will, and of you physically, also.”