Bobby Petrino is a man on a mission. That mission? To get his team to believe they can beat Alabama in the season opener.

The Louisville coach likely knows that his team is a four-touchdown plus underdog to Nick Saban’s squad but that isn’t stopping him from making bold predictions when it comes to the game. During a recent Louisville luncheon, Petrino offered up this thought on his team’s opener in Orlando.

“I believe we’re gonna go beat ’em. And we will go beat ’em,” Petrino said according to ESPN Louisville program director Jason Anderson.

That statement echoes Petrino’s comments from July’s ACC Media Days when asked about his team’s season opener against Alabama. While Petrino wasn’t predicting a win back then, he did issue a similar challenge to his team, stating they have to believe they can beat the Crimson Tide before it can actually happen.

“But the number one thing we have to do is believe that we can go down there and beat them so that when you truly believe in something, then you go out and play your best, play to your best of your ability, and that’s what’s important for us,” Petrino said back in July. “If there’s any disbelief at all, usually you underachieve, and that’s the main thing we can’t do. We need to go play our best game to give us an opportunity to win.”

It remains to be seen if his players are buying into the message but based on some of the comments to come out of Louisville’s fall camp, it appears they are confident heading into the opener.