The lopsided betting line indicates there shouldn’t be much intrigue surrounding No. 5 Alabama’s game at Mississippi State on Saturday. But try telling that to Katrina Salles — she’s a nervous wreck.

The proud mother of Alabama safety Jared Mayden and Mississippi State quarterback Jalen Mayden has had to carefully navigate the waters of a friendly family feud this week, showing support for both her sons individually while praying that everyone ends up as happy as possible come Saturday afternoon.

“It’s a hot mess,” Salles said with a laugh. “You’ve got to be encouraging because you want both to do well. It’s one of those things where you root individually because I do love both programs. I just have to look at it as my individual child and the players I adore and cheer for them.”

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Salles has kept herself busy trying to round up as many tickets as possible for family members as this will be the final time Jared and Jalen square up against each other at the college level. Anxious hours are also filled with some last-minute prayers and perhaps a few too many check-ins with her boys.

“I can tell when she’s feeling it because she’ll call me and then text me,” Jared said. “So she’ll text me in the morning. Then I’ll respond. She’ll call me before practice. Then she’ll text me after practice, then she’ll call me at night. That’s when I know the stress meter is getting up there.”

Jared didn’t do his mother any favors earlier this week when he playfully proclaimed his intentions if he meets his brother on the field.

“I always told him, if I get a chance to play against you,” Jared started with a grin, “all the time you told on me, wore my clothes — he’s bigger than me, so I think around middle school he started wearing my clothes, wearing my shoes — so I told him, if I ever get a chance to hit you, and I can do it without getting in trouble, I’m gonna take every opportunity I can take.”

Chances are that opportunity won’t come Saturday. While Jared is a starter on Alabama’s defense, his younger brother is currently fourth on Mississippi State’s depth chart and has yet to play a snap for the Bulldogs this season. Still, the statements earned Jared an additional text and a lecture.

“He is sooooo grounded for this,” Salles joked after watching Jared’s interview. “Jalen did wear his outfits, but Jared did the same thing to (her oldest son) James Jr. He forgot that little-brother part of himself.”

The Mayden brotherly rivalry goes way back. The boys' father, James Mayden Sr. played basketball for Oklahoma while their uncle, Tyrone Washington, played for Mississippi State and was later drafted by the Houston Rockets.

The football side of the rivalry started with the family’s oldest son, James Mayden Jr., who played receiver at Rice for three seasons before transferring to New Mexico Highlands University. The three brothers are separated by two years apiece as James played high school ball with Jared, while Jared played with Jalen. That inevitably led to some competitive practices at Sachse High School in Texas over the years.

“We let it get a little more frisky,” Sachse head coach Mark Behrens said with a chuckle. “There weren’t a lot of flags being thrown.”

Of course, those matchups had nothing on family weekends at their grandparent's house. According to Salles, trips to her parents’ home often resulted in street football games of 20 or so kids as the Mayden boys had several cousins roughly the same age. Those outings were when the stakes were the highest.

“It’d be like ‘Hey, Jared, I bet you can’t beat James at basketball,’ or ‘Jalen, I bet you can’t beat Jared,” James Jr. recalled. “We’d have little friendly wagers. They’d put up five dollars here or bet an ice cream or crab legs on Sunday. I think that worked and taught us to be competitive, and if you lose just try harder.”

Pickup games with larger numbers of people allowed the Mayden brothers to scheme up plays against their relatives. However, more often than not, the three would go up against each other in the back yard. Naturally, the competitions would consist of James catching passes from his youngest brother while Jared defended at cornerback.

“Jalen was also the youngest, not being as developed as me and Jared, so he got it from both of us,” James Jr. explained. “If he threw a bad ball to me, I was grilling him and Jared was grilling him. But if he threw a good ball to me and I dropped it or something he’d grill me but I’d grill him right back for something else. Basketball was the same way. We just played us three together.”

While Jalen is the youngest of the Mayden brothers, the 6-foot-2, 230-pound quarterback has outgrown his older siblings by quite a bit. Jared is listed at 6-foot, 205 pounds on Alabama’s roster, while James was around 6-foot-3, 195 pounds during his playing days.

“When he got to college, he’s been saying he’s gonna run me over if he sees me on the sideline. He’s not gonna step out of bounds,” Jared said. “I told him, you can try. I’m still holding you. You still got little-boy strength. I’m grown.”

Jared said he doesn’t want to hear the trash talk coming from his younger brother this week. In fact, he’s even considered temporarily blocking his mother on social media to avoid running into any messages she might share with James.

While both Mayden brothers claim they won’t hesitate to lower their pads should they meet up on the field this week, they also know that the same shoulder can be a place to lean on during tough times.

Outside of their combative nature, the Mayden boys have all played a huge role in each other’s success. James first took on the responsibility of mentor, following the words of his father who told him to not only better himself but make sure his brothers were always well looked after.

“You have to want better for your siblings,” James Jr. said. “My biggest thing in starting all of that was I would always say, 'Jared, Jalen, you’re going to be better than me.’ That’s what I always wanted to instill in them. I’ve had my accomplishments, I had fun doing what I did. But at the same time, I want them to be better than I was in the classroom and on the field.”

The eldest brother said he really started to see his impact after he left for college. While he was away, friends and family would show him clips of Jalen at quarterback. Good or bad, the highlights would always end with Jared swooping in with advice and encouragement.

Lately, the guidance coming from Jared to Jalen has been that of patience. Jared had to wait three seasons before breaking into Alabama’s starting defense this year. Now he’s looking to help guide Jalen down the same path. After playing in three blowout games as a freshman last year, the Mississippi State quarterback currently finds himself behind Garrett Shrader, Tommy Stevens and Keytaon Thompson on the Bulldog’s depth chart.

“I’m just telling him you got to stay focused,” Jared said. “You can’t let the situation – you really got no control outside of what you do on the field, what you do on the practice field, whenever you get in games. Just keep focusing on the little things. Keep showing the coaches you care. Look at the film, do the extra things.”

After a hectic week, things are beginning to slow down for Salles. All the phone calls and text messages have been delivered. The ticket situation seems to be handled as well, as 12 family members are expected to be in attendance. All that’s left now is to sit back and enjoy Saturday’s game — at least as much as a nervous mother can.

“When they first went off to college, I told Jalen, ‘Don’t throw in Jared’s direction.’ I told Jared, ‘Don’t intercept your brother’s ball, just knock it down,’ she said. “Now that it’s actually really happening, I’m just praying for the best.”

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