As the SEC Media Days were wrapping up in Hoover, Alabama, Pac-12 Media Days were just getting started in Hollywood, California.

USC coach Clay Helton answered questions about the Trojans’ Sept. 3 season opener against Alabama at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

In the interview, Helton said his squad is anxious to prove it belongs on the same field as the defending national champions:

“Why do you come to ‘SC?” Helton said when speaking about Alabama at Pac-12 Media Days on Thursday. “You come to compete, and you want to compete at the highest level. If you don’t like that, don’t come.”

Helton went on to say that the Trojans will have their hands full with the Tide, a team he said is one of the best-coached teams in college football:

“I think one [thing] that just leaps off the tape is coaching, the way they’re coached,” Helton said. “Just assignment-wise, the style of football they play, the discipline they play with. You’re talking about one of the greatest head coaches in the history of the game in Coach Saban, maybe the best in our generation.”

Helton’s father, Kim, coached with Alabama’s Nick Saban while they were both with the Houston Oilers in the 1980s, so the two coaches are close.

But, Helton said, that doesn’t mean they won’t be enemies on Sept. 3. Helton oozed excitement over the Trojans’ season opener:

“To be able to play the defending national champion, the leader you have the utmost respect for, the guy who’s the leader in our profession,” Helton said. “If that doesn’t make the hair stand up on the back of your neck, I don’t know what does.”

The Trojans and Crimson Tide will square off at 8 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, Sept. 3. The game will be televised on ABC.