By JOHN ZENOR
AP Sports Writer

No. 9 LSU (7-1) at No. 3 Alabama (8-0), 3:30 p.m. EDT

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) --  When they last met, Alabama vs. LSU was
all about Nick Saban coaching against his former team.

This year, there's more pressing business: keeping in the mix to
play for the national title.

Two Top 10 Southeastern Conference teams meet Saturday, with a
pair formidable defenses and one Heisman Trophy candidate in a
game that might be low on points if not drama.

Yes, again.

The first such rendezvous this season resulted in one touchdown
and a 13-3 victory by Tim Tebow and No. 1 Florida over then-No.
4 LSU.

Saturday's matchup between ninth-ranked LSU and No. 3 Alabama
has all the makings of a similarly defensive clash. And the
stakes are at least as high.

It's enough to make swashbuckling LSU coach Les Miles embrace a
kick.

"If you punt it and go play defense, that's a good choice,"
Miles said. "There is nothing wrong with that."

Warm up those legs, P.J. Fitzgerald and Derek Helton. The way
these defenses are playing, it could be a busy day for the
punters.

Alabama (8-0, 5-0) allows the fifth-fewest points a game in the
nation and has given up just one touchdown in the last three
games. Only Texas is stingier against the run.

LSU (7-1, 4-1) sports the No. 7 scoring defense, has given up 36
points in its last four games and is coming off a shutout of
Tulane.

The game could determine who plays Florida in the SEC
championship game. It will definitely be Alabama if the Tide
wins. If the Tigers win, they clinch the rematch with wins
against Mississippi and Arkansas.

Either way, the survivor is still in the mix for a national
title shot.

"In a game like this, you go out on the field and whoever plays
the hardest and whoever does the little things right the most
consistently throughout the game, that's who will win the game,"
Tide linebacker Rolando McClain said. "You can't really focus on
'we've got to make this big play' or 'we've got to do this or
we've got to do that'. We have to focus on the game plan,
perfect it and execute it."

Miles looks at an Alabama team led by McClain and nose guard
Terrence Cody on defense and relentless runner Mark Ingram -
widely considered a Heisman candidate - on offense and
concludes: "There are no weaknesses."

The defense certainly hasn't shown many. The Tide allows only 65
yards a game rushing and has given up only one touchdown on the
ground in the past seven games. Alabama's 23 sacks are tied for
the league lead with Mississippi and Florida, which racked up
five sacks in its meeting with LSU.

LSU's defense has allowed only one touchdown in the last two
games, and that came in the final 3 seconds against Auburn.

"I think that both defenses are very good and the structures are
sound and solid," Miles said. "They play aggressively, and they
make tackles. I enjoy watching good college football, and I
think certainly that's what will be played this Saturday."

The key to stopping Alabama's offense has been to try to slow
down Ingram, who had at least 140 yards in three straight games
before being held to 99 against Tennessee two weeks ago going
into an open date. The Tide squeaked by in that one, winning
12-10 after Cody blocked two field goals in the fourth quarter.

Ingram has been impressed by an LSU defense led by linebacker
Kelvin Sheppard and defensive backs Chad Jones and Patrick
Peterson.

"They are big and fast, strong and physical," he said. "The
scheme they play, they do it really well. They are coached up
really well. They all do their assignments. They all get to the
ball and they make it really hard for offenses to have success."

LSU has had plenty of success in Tuscaloosa, where the Tigers
have won four straight. Alabama's overtime victory last year in
Baton Rouge snapped a five-game LSU winning streak in the
rivalry.

One of these two teams has represented the West in the SEC
championship game three of the past four seasons.

"I can tell you that our football team wants to compete for the
SEC Western Division championship every year, and certainly
that's this game," Miles said.

His teams haven't fared well lately against Top 10 teams, losing
three straight after winning six in a row.

Alabama has won five such regular season games in a row, but
lost in the SEC championship game and the Sugar Bowl last year
to Top 10 teams.

But Saban has stuck to his standard message this week: Focus on
the process, not the results.

"I know it's a result world, but great competitors don't focus
on the results they focus on what they need to do to get the
results," the Alabama coach said. "Sometimes that's difficult to
do with a lot of the external things that we live with, but
that's the most important thing to playing your best. Maybe we
were affected by that a little bit in the last couple of games."