Jalen Milroe is quite familiar with the Alabama-Tennessee rivalry but now he’s ready to take part in it.

The quarterback was a backup for Alabama’s 52-49 loss last season at Tennessee. It was Tennessee’s first win vs. Alabama since 2006. Now the sophomore is ready to embrace the challenge in his first rivalry contest.

“It’s a historic rivalry that I’m just learning more and more about being in college. It’s very exciting to be part of a rivalry. It’s going to take a lot of preparation this week just because of how hard this opponent is. It’s a great opportunity for us,” Milroe said during a recent press conference. “We’re excited the challenge. It’s going to be great. It’s great to have this rivalry going on and it’s going to be fun.”

Milroe is taking it upon himself to make sure Alabama learns from last season’s loss and continues to build positive habits heading into game day.

“I think the No. 1 thing we have to do is look in the mirror. Look at some things that we need to improve on to help our team win. Help our team be successful and ultimately win. A lot of takeaways that we can have to approach this week,” Milroe said. “…Trying to improve and get 1 percent better each and every day that we have this week.”

Milroe would love nothing more than to smell the sweet aroma of victory cigars from the stands on Saturday.

“To success, that’s like the cherry on top, having that cigar at the end of the game. There’s no better feeling than to have that,” Milroe said. “…That’s something to be excited for, for sure.”

No. 17 Tennessee at No. 11 Alabama is slated for a 3:30 p.m. EST kickoff and will be televised on CBS.