Vanderbilt and Alabama will open up SEC play on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium, with the Crimson Tide entering as 40-point favorites Under Clark Lea, the Commodores are of to their best start since 2017, winning three of its first four games to start the season.

Lea has faced off against the Crimson Tide in 2021 as a member of the Notre Dame coaching staff. The former defensive coordinator for the Fighting Irish lost to Alabama 31-17 in the 2021 Rose Bowl, holding the eventual national champions to their lowest point total of the season.

Now as the head coach of his alma mater, Lea said he's "excited" to square off against Nick Saban and the No. 2 Crimson Tide.

Here's everything the second-year head coach had to say about facing Alabama this week.

On Alabama...

"Every week is going to be challenging now, and obviously we play a good opponent in Alabama this week. My message and our team is going to continue to focus on us. It's about our highest level. It's not about who we're playing against. When you're in this league, week-in, week-out, you know you're going to face the best. So our singular focus is on how we enhance our performance, continue our growth, continue our evolution as a program so we're able to work to results on Saturday. We have a ton of respect for Alabama. We have a ton of respect for everyone in this conference and everybody left on our schedule. We're excited for this week, and we're excited to go down and compete with them. But again, our interest is in what we're doing and how we how, again, manifest that best performance or the performance we're capable of."

On coaching against Alabama and Saban in the CFP while at Notre Dame...

"It's not a great memory. That team was a really good team. They've sustained that level of excellence over the years. Coach Saban obviously has risen to the top of our profession, and for good reason. He does a great job. He runs a discipline program that recruits well and develops well. That was a frustrating day for me as a defensive coordinator. There are similarities in the rosters, similarities in the offense, but it is a new team. So they have a different identity than the team that we played against in 2020. It's gonna be a different game."

On how well he knows Saban on a personal level...

"We've never really crossed paths other than just having a ton of respect for him. Obviously, now that we work in the conference together, we're acquaintances and see each other at the meetings and such. But a ton of respect there for him, and I enjoy listening to him talk about the game. His angle on football, it's fascinating. But not a deep relationship beyond just that level of respect."

On Swann making his first SEC start at Alabama...

"Well, this is a little-known fact, but my first SEC start was against Alabama. It was at home, and I was the up-back on the 15-yard line. Whoever their special teams coordinator was smart because, in game planning for that game, this was my third game of the season. They circled No. 29 on the 15 and said, 'We're going to kick to that guy.' I was kicked to twice. I think I had a 10-yard return and 24-yard return, both of which I was met by coach (Bobby) Johnson halfway off the sideline. He was not pleased that his fullback was returning the kicks.

"But listen, AJ, there's no stage too big. He has shown it from the day he set foot on campus — the first practice, the first workout. He's gonna learn a lot and he's gonna have to grow a lot and there's going to be mistakes made, because any time you're playing a freshman, you're going to expect him to learn on the move. But I'm excited for him. I know he's excited to be the starting quarterback here. So for him, it's not a matter of where we're putting the ball down. It's his focus on his job and what he can do to facilitate offensive performance, and I have a lot of trust in him doing that."

On Bryce Young...

"He's obviously very well-regarded and well-respected for a reason. He has got the ability to throw the ball on time. He has got the ability to run and create explosive runs. I've seen that. Obviously, we've seen that. Then his ability to create and extend (plays) as well opens up some of the explosives, particularly in the pass game. He has got an ability there to be in pocket and just to move subtly off his mark to evade the rush, and he might have a square stance and put the ball in the air and he can put it on the money.

"It's impressive. So we have to do a great job in our rush lanes. We have to do a great job in collapsing the pocket. There's learning for us in that from the NIU game where rush lane integrity showed up and their ability to extend plays. Then we have to be disciplined in coverage down the field too because as a down extends, we can't get our eyes back and try to find where he is. We have to stay on our man and stay in coverage to make sure that we're eliminating the windows for him to throw the ball."

On the challenge of going from the nonconference schedule to playing Alabama...

"This is building and growing the program. This is what we signed up for, and to me, I think there's generally a buzz around the program right now and excitement. That doesn't mean that these games aren't challenging. We're going to learn a lot about ourselves on Saturday. But I think we have a competitive team that has a belief in what we're building, and we know that ultimately this program wants to measure up against the best in the country, the best in our conference. We're looking forward to it more than anything. I think, again, this is an opportunity for growth. This is an opportunity for growth for us. So we're attacking it head-on and excited for it."

On how Vanderbilt will look to slow down Alabama's pass rush...

"We have mechanisms that we can design that are meant to slow the rush down. I think we've had better offensive line play this season in run and pass, which is a testament to the work they've done and what (offensive line) coach (AJ) Blazek has done and what (offensive coordinator Joey) Lynch has done in design. We've also been way more disciplined pre-snap. When you're disciplined pre-snap, you can do things that can hold the tempo of the opposing front — whether that's going on two or changing cadences or holding the play. We've done a few of those things so far this fall, and that helps those guys. You try to exercise every advantage you have each week that you play so that teams aren't able just to tee off and let it rip.

"The other thing too is both with Mike and then this past week with AJ, (they are) way more ingrained in our system. So we have fewer protection errors because the protections are being called correctly, and that just is the expertise that comes with being in a system for two years. We'll look to do everything that we need to do to neutralize that rush while also, again, having a goal to get the ball out on the perimeter and in sustained drives because you can't change your identity based off who you play. We have to develop an identity and replicate that identity week-in, week-out that unlocks our performance rather than just allowing them to dictate how we're going to play the game. There's always strategy and there's always opponent awareness within that, but this is, again, about us. It's about what we do, what we do well, knowing where our weaknesses are, how we complement those so that we can ultimately find the performance we're looking for."