Nick Saban Recaps ‘Emotional’ Win Over LSU Ahead of Mississippi State [VIDEO]

Even after coming off their biggest win of the season to date, Alabama players will need to quickly re-channel their focus ahead of their next opponent, No. 20 Mississippi State, this Saturday.

And their coach, Nick Saban, as he always does, will do what he can to make sure of that.

The Crimson Tide beat then-No. 2 LSU, 30-16, this past Saturday, and while Saban still allows the “24-hour rule” – a day’s worth of time allowing players to enjoy a win before moving onto the next game – it isn’t lost on him to always remind his players about moving onto the next task at hand when the time comes.

Still, he’s also confident that they have the responsibility to figure that out on their own, too.

“You’re always hopeful that the players see it like you see it,” Saban said, “and that they’re thinking the same way you’re thinking, and they understand what they need to do, so that they can go play well, in terms of how they practice, how they prepare for the game, what psychological disposition they need to have to go into the game to be able to play that well on the road against a good team.

“So all these things are points that we’re constantly trying to make and hopefully the players reinforce them. I think that’s what you call leadership and affecting other players on the team, so it is important that everyone on the team gets the message.”

Alabama, currently ranked as high as No. 3 in the latest AP poll (the second College Football Playoff ranking comes out Tuesday night), travels to take on a Bulldogs team that has quietly raced out to a 7-2 (3-2 SEC) start this season, one year after it was ranked No. 1 for several weeks before the Crimson Tide ended that in a 25-20 victory.

Last week, Alabama players were noticeably focused on playing LSU, which has annually been one of the team’s bigger games in recent years. The Crimson Tide put together arguably its most complete performance of the season in the win, dominating in all aspects of the game – offense, defense and special teams.

“Anytime you have an emotional win,” Saban said, “you’ve got to get your team to respond in the right way and make sure they’re focused on what they need to do to play just as well the next week or better against a very good Mississippi State team that’s ranked and is a very, very, very good team.”

Alabama-Mississippi State has a scheduled 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff on CBS. The SEC announced the start time after the Tide's win over LSU.

Watch player interviews from Monday: