Lane Kiffin knows his relationship with Alabama coach Nick Saban will be a major national story line this week as the first-year Ole Miss coach prepares for Saturday's game against the second-ranked Crimson Tide.

He's just not sure it should be.

"I don't think that's that big of a deal," Kiffin said. "We worked together for three years, I learned a lot from him and we had a great run. I think at one point we won 24 or 26 straight games. It was very productive times with a lot of great players and a lot of wins. The only two regular-season losses were to Ole Miss, so good time and I'm obviously very grateful to him."

Kiffin was Alabama's offensive coordinator from 2014-2016, helping modernize the Alabama attack. Kiffin left with one game left in the 2016 college football playoff, taking over at Florida Atlantic. Almost four years later, Kiffin clearly has worlds of respect for his former boss.

Kiffin referred to Alabama as the "No. 1 team in the country coming in, in my opinion, and the premier program in the country, no offense to Clemson. They are the premier programs operating at the highest level for the last 10 years and this one's doing it in the SEC, so it's a little harder. We'll have our hands full. I think this is probably the best team Coach has had as far as being balanced all over and not having holes anywhere."

Kiffin was asked if he has heard from Saban much since leaving Tuscaloosa.

"That's not really his wheelhouse," Kiffin said. "He's not really sending out some texts every once in a while checking on you."

What Kiffin has heard are predictions he will be the first former Saban assistant to defeat the legendary coach in a head-to-head matchup.

"All these people who say it's an advantage having worked with him," Kiffin said. "I don't really understand that. He's 20-0 against coaches who worked for him, so if you working for him (makes you think it) gives you an advantage, you're not a very good gambler. Twenty and 0 is a pretty strong record.

"He knows them, too. Everybody says they know him but he knows the assistants. I think it goes both ways and except for Ole Miss those two times and a few Iron Bowls, he's kind of 100 percent against everybody else, really, until you get to Clemson in the playoffs. He's 100 percent against a lot of coaches."

Kiffin's stated goal is to turn Ole Miss into a national power, one that can ultimately contend with Alabama and other SEC West powers for a conference title. On Saturday, however, Ole Miss is a 24-point underdog against the Crimson Tide.

"You don't walk in and everything's perfect," Kiffin said. "You come into a job and there are some things that you have to get fixed and you have to work on. It can't happen overnight. There's no pixie dust."

Two of the top three quarterbacks in the country, as ranked by passing efficiency, will be squaring off on Saturday. Kiffin has worked with both.

Alabama's Mac Jones is No. 1 in the country with a passing efficiency of 222.1, per NCAA.com. BYU's Zach Wilson is No. 2 with a 221.9 efficiency rating. Ole Miss' Matt Corral is third at 211.9.

If you prefer total QBR, Corral is No. 1 with a 93.8 RAW rating, ahead of Georgia's Stetson Bennett, Jones, Florida's Kyle Trask and Clemson's Trevor Lawrence.

Jones is 38-for-51 for 684 yards, six touchdowns and an interception. Kiffin was at Alabama when the Crimson Tide recruited Jones.

"I always thought the cool thing with Mac was people would say, 'Why would you go there with Tua?'" Kiffin said, referring to former Alabama star and current Miami Dolphins rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. "He didn't care. He was very competitive, really confident in himself, awesome family, so glad he's doing well. Who would've thought these two quarterbacks are first and second in the country in quarterback efficiency?"

As for Corral, he's 46-for-60 for 715 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception so far this season. Kiffin thinks he can do even more.

"Just calming down and cleaning up his feet in the pocket," Kiffin said when asked what the next step in Corral's improvement is. "He's kind of moving around a lot. He's making a lot of plays, but at the same time, there are times where he could stay in there and set himself a little more."

It was a frustrating process, but Deane Leonard is enjoying being on the field. After practicing for weeks and not knowing whether he'd be cleared or not, getting word he'd been cleared by the NCAA and the SEC was a relief.

For that reason, no one, perhaps, has more empathy for Ole Miss safety Otis Reese than Leonard.

"I really do hope he gets an opportunity to play this season," Leonard said. "I really do feel for him. I read his story about how he left Georgia and I hope the NCAA makes the right decision for him."

Leonard, who transferred to Ole Miss after his team in Calgary, Alberta, had its season canceled due to COVID-19, has been adjusting to life in the SEC. He got time against both Florida and Kentucky and now is preparing for Alabama.

"I'm just ready to go for this next game," Leonard said. "They're like a track team back there. They're fast. They're agile. They can really do it all.

"I still feel like I have a long way to go. Everything is different. The splits are tighter. There's a big learning curve and I feel I'm just on the up-rise of it."

Elijah Moore has had a big career at Ole Miss. However, his experiences against Alabama have been difficult.

The Rebels lost at Alabama, 59-31, a year after a 62-7 drubbing at the hands of the Tide in Oxford in September 2018.

"It's just like any other team," Moore said. "They put their pads on just like we do, so I can't really that question. We just have to be ready. They've got good coaches. They've got good schemes. But we've got good coaches and we've got good schemes. We're just going to have to see."

Moore said the goal Saturday is to win.

"We don't want to go in thinking about the past," Moore said. "We just look towards the future. We control what we can control."