Nick Saban met with the media Monday to preview the Ole Miss game.

Alabama travels to Oxford to face the 2-0 Rebels, a team that the Tide have had trouble with over the last few years. The struggles took place when Hugh Freeze was the head coach, but Matt Luke has put together one of the best offenses in college football.

And Saban is well aware of the difficulty his defense faces this week.

“The real season is really starting now,” Saban said about facing Ole Miss. “I think with SEC play coming up, we’ve had some gifts given to us in the first couple games that I don’t think that’s going to happen, and I think the players have to understand the importance of stepping it up a notch in terms of preparation.

“They’re (Ole Miss) playing as well as anybody in the country,” Saban continued. “They have a lot of weapons. Their quarterback i playing really well. … This is a really, really good offensive team as indicated by their statistics.”

As equally talented, the Tide’s secondary will have a tough time against Ole Miss’ ridiculous receiving corps.

QB Jordan Ta’amu leads the SEC in passing with 784 yards and seven TDs, while receivers AJ Brown, Braylon Sanders and DK Metcalf combine to create perhaps the best trio in college football. They have ability, size and covering all three seems virtually impossible at times.

Ole Miss doesn’t want to get into a shootout, but it may not be avoidable. The Rebels defense was gashed early and often last week against Southern Illinois, and Alabama has a top five offense in college football, featuring perhaps the best overall player in QB Tua Tagovailoa.

You can watch Saban’s full press conference below: