Saban-Fisher redux in SEC; Ducks face test

For the second straight year, Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher will meet in a mentor-mentee matchup.

All signs point toward Saban teaching him another lesson when top-ranked Alabama hosts 22nd-ranked Texas A&M on Saturday in one of two games between Top 25 teams. The other has No. 7 Stanford at No. 20 Oregon.

Fisher was Saban’s offensive coordinator at LSU from 2000-06, and they met in the highly anticipated kickoff to the 2017 season in Atlanta. The Tide was in total control while winning 24-7 against Fisher’s thirdranked Florida State Seminoles.

Fisher moved on to A&M, where his charge is to challenge Saban and the Tide’s supremacy in the SEC West. No small task. The Tide has outscored their first three opponents 170-28 and are 27-point favorites to beat the Aggies for a sixth straight time.

Five things to know about college football’s Week 4:

BEST GAME

STANFORD AT OREGON » Washington came into the season all the rage in the Pac-12, but the winner of this game has gone on to win the North five times since 2011.

Oregon QB Justin Herbert has put up great numbers, and the defense has held the last two opponents under 100 yards rushing. The nonconference schedule was cushy, though, so this game will be a truer indicator of what first-year coach Mario Cristobal has in Eugene.

Stanford’s Bryce Love , the 2017 Heisman Trophy runner-up, returns after sitting out last week’s game against UC-Davis with an undisclosed injury. The Cardinal defense has allowed a total of 23 points in three games.