TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Two of Alabama’s prized future assets were once being recruited by a Crimson Tide’s assistant for Alabama’s biggest rival. Freshman defensive tackle James Smith and redshirt freshman Qua Russaw were teammates at Carver High School in Montgomery and were being targeted in 2022 young coach named Christian Robinson.

At the time Robinson was serving as Auburn’s linebackers coach and run game coordinator. He now leads the linebacker unit for Alabama and Russaw and Smith are members of the Tide’s defense. Robinson acknowledged his Auburn ties and said he’s looking forward to the opportunity for his players to experience the rivalry that he’ll soon experience on the Alabama sideline.

“There’s a lot of really good people over there that I spent a lot of days with,” Robinson said. “So there’s a lot of meaning with that but they also know in the job of what you’re trying to go do on Saturday and I’m excited to be in this environment. I think it’s going to be a great environment and our players are [excited] as well, and I think it’s going to be a great spectacle of college football and we obviously want to go end up on in the right side of it in the right way.”

As Alabama prepares to face its in-state nemesis Robinson’s Auburn ties will be an added benefit to Alabama’s game prep. As the Tigers' run game coordinator, he worked closely with running back Jarquez Hunter. The senior has developed into the SEC’s second-leading rusher with 1,145 and eight touchdowns. Robinson also helped recruit a few of Auburn’s running backs behind Hunter.

"I believe this is the best [running back] group that we've faced all season," Robinson said. "And knowing those kids personally, they're built that way. And I vocalized that to our guys, these are great people and they play the game the way it's supposed to be played and you've gotta play to a certain level any time you're playing someone like that."

Any advanced understanding of an opponent can become an advantage, and Robinson is looking to take advantage of his recent time at Auburn to help the Tide achieve a bounce-back win. In addition to having an understanding of how Auburn's running backs operate on the field, Robinson has leaned on his time recruiting some of Auburn’s roster to paint a clear picture of what to expect as far as the attitude and intensity of the Tigers' backfield.

“When you’re recruiting kids you kind of know their demeanor,” Robinson said.” That can be something that you educate guys — talk about Jarquez, he’s a great team leader over there. That guy works his tail off and everything. And just saying that ‘This is somebody that’s gonna be a great opponent.’ I think it's just preparing them — it’s not somebody that’s gonna give away the game with their maybe antics at times. This is someone that plays it the right way and he was always that way when I was there. I think it's painting a picture of what you’re about to face and making sure your mind is in the right place.”

Having been on both sides of the rivalry, Robinson has also experienced the back-and-forth between the two teams in the buildup to the game. There’s been no shortage of that from Auburn’s side as the Tigers are hoping to further spoil Alabama’s season with a monster upset.

As Alabama prepares to take care of business and rebound from its loss to Oklahoma with a win over its rival, Robinson is also using his past ties to keep his players in the right headspace and keep their focus internal, rather than on what Auburn players have said. Alabama has the chance to win its fifth straight game against Auburn and Robinson has leaned on his experience to send a message to his players that focusing on goals will be the biggest key to success Saturday.

“I think any time there’s a passionate game it always ends up being about you and making the focus of what do I have to do to improve,” Robinson said. “We have our own set of things that we did not like about how we performed [against Oklahoma]. So the work is really on us to be able to go execute. And so in those moments, I think we gravitate back to that and focus on that. We’ve got young kids that obviously, they probably pay attention more to things than we do. But to re-focus and say these will be the real things that actually cause us to be successful.”

Alabama will face Auburn at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ABC.