Now that the Texas State contest is in the rearview mirror, Texas A&M appears eager to test itself against the best team the nation has to offer.

The Aggies headed into the season with all their focus on Texas State, and that showed with a 41-7 Thursday night win that could have been much worse if Kellen Mond played more in the game. Not only was the junior signal-caller nearly flawless in the opener, but the Aggies’ new-look defense was also impressive in the opener.

Mike Elko’s unit held Texas State to only eight rushing yards and forced four interceptions to open the season.

Things will obviously get much more difficult next weekend, as the Aggies are hitting the road to Clemson in an attempt to avenge last season’s 28-26 loss at home to the Tigers. Clemson is coming off another national title and has not lost a game since the 2017 season and currently features the quarterback most believe to be the best in the nation.

Following his defense’s impressive debut against Texas State, Jimbo Fisher was asked during his post-game press conference if the Aggies were ready to face Trevor Lawrence.

“Listen, that guy, that will be a little different ball game now,” Fisher pointed out. “They’ve got some great receivers with Trevor, and I’m glad our guys got some confidence going in. But we’re going to have to play one heck of a game. It will be a little bit different deal with Trevor and those guys throwing. We played them last year. Hopefully, we’ll see how it goes.”

Kellen Mond was also asked about the upcoming game. Last season’s matchup against Clemson was Mond’s coming out party around the nation — this year, another epic performance on the road against the defending national champs could vault the Texas A&M signal-caller all the way up the Heisman Trophy board.

“You know, I’m excited. It’s just another opportunity for us. Same thing as tonight,” Mond said after the Texas State game. “We just get to go out and face another opponent just, you know, Coach [Fisher] always emphasizes it’s a faceless opponent. So, I mean, it doesn’t really matter. We have got to go in this whole week prepared and just focus on us and what we can do.”

As for the side of the ball that will actually matchup against Trevor Lawrence and the Clemson receivers, Texas A&M has to feel better about its chances after forcing four interceptions against in the opener. Junior defensive back Myles Jones, who registered two of the picks on Thursday, was asked to look ahead to the Aggies’ upcoming trip to Clemson.

“We’re going to start preparing tonight,” Jones said.

Considering the level of competition they face, it’s a good thing Texas A&M has over a week to prepare for Clemson and the ACC’s version of Death Valley.