Nick Saban has taken the time at practice to get his players refocused before the Rose Bowl.

Saban on Monday noted how it can be difficult to get back into good practice habits for bowl games. The matchup will be the first time that the Crimson Tide and Wolverines have played since 2020.

“The first 3 days of practice we’ve really tried to focus on fundamentals. Practice with a plan, a sense of purpose. Everybody’s kinda gotta reinvest into conditioning, fundamental techniques, discipline to execute, blocking, tackling,” said Saban. “It will translate into a positive performance in the game and I think it’s hard to carry the momentum from the season into a game when you got almost a month.”

On his message to the players, Saban mentioned how players shouldn’t expect to gain anything from Playoff games like this.

“It’s a great opportunity for our players, it’s a great challenge, but you’re not really owed anything when you play in these games,” said Saban. “It’s like a 1-game season with the Playoffs, so we’ve gotta put everything into it that we can and everybody’s trying real hard to do that.”

Kickoff will be on New Year’s Day as the winner punches their ticket to the national championship in Houston.