One of the most candid quotes of the offseason came this week about Alabama and Nick Saban from Jimbo Fisher, who said about Texas A&M, “We’re going to beat his ass when he’s there. Don’t worry,” Fisher said at the Houston Touchdown Club.

But a great response came on Thursday when Saban was at a Team Focus event in Mobile, Alabama.

“In golf?,” Saban replied.

If it wasn’t already circled on the calendar, it’s safe to say the teams’ meeting on Oct. 9 in College Station this season will draw a lot of attention.

Fisher, of course, noted that he has a lot of respect for Saban, a friend and former boss, and it’s the kind of comment that gets a lot of mileage at offseason touchdown banquets.

“I respect everything they do and how they do it but we can do it just as good or be just as good or better and we will,” Fisher said of Alabama. “That’s what our goal is and what I want. So, we’re going to get it done.”

Fisher’s Aggies teams are 0-3 against Saban’s Crimson Tide squads. Alabama was the only team to defeat Texas A&M last season, a 52-24 result in Tuscaloosa.