Tuberville: Bama, AU will be up for game

November hasn’t been a friendly month for Auburn and Alabama.

And with the Iron Bowl just five days away, neither the 7-4 Tigers nor the 6-5 Crimson Tide are looking their best.

Auburn is 1-2 in its last three Southeastern Conference games. Alabama is on a three-game losing streak.

But Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville doesn’t think the teams’ ugly recent performances will affect preparation this week. And he certainly doesn’t see any need to remind his players to stay focused.

Tuberville knows Alabama’s loss to Louisiana-Monroe won’t affect the Tide this Saturday in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

AU was off Friday and Saturday and didn’t practice Sunday, though the Tigers did have team meetings. Tuberville had no plans to talk to his players about Alabama’s loss.

“I think if you have to have that conversation, then you’ve got a team that’s really out of touch with what’s going on,“ Tuberville said. “We talk about this game every week of the year, almost every day in the summer.

“Our guys know the importance of it, not only to them and the school but also to the fans and alumni. Alabama knows the same thing.“

While Auburn’s players have had a week to lick their wounds after their Nov. 10 loss to Georgia, Alabama’s players must quickly put last Saturday’s loss to Louisiana-Monroe behind them.

Tuberville sees that as an advantage for the Tide.

“You bounce back a lot quicker when you’ve got a game that week,“ he said.

But in the end, previous results don’t matter. Tuberville, who has won five in a row against Auburn’s archrival, doesn’t expect anything less than the best from either side.

“Both teams are going to play as hard as they can, try to play as well as they can, and let the best team win,“ Tuberville said.

Injury report

Tuberville said tailback Brad Lester missed a few practices during Auburn’s bye week because of a “headache.“ Tuberville said the junior hadn’t suffered a concussion and said the rest was a precaution.

Linebacker Craig Stevens’ injured ankle isn’t 100 percent, but the redshirt freshman is expected to play Saturday.

Tailback Tristan Davis’ status is less clear. The junior practiced sparingly last week but is still recovering from a broken bone in his foot.

Defensive tackle Zach Clayton is recovering from an ankle injury but is expected to play Saturday.

AU back in polls

The loss to Georgia knocked Auburn out of the polls. But thanks to another topsy-turvy week of college football, the Tigers didn’t stay unranked long.

AU climbed back into the top 25 in all three major polls - the Associated Press, the Harris Interactive and the coaches’ poll. All three polls rank AU 25th.

Losses by No. 22 Kentucky and 23rd-ranked Michigan opened room in the bottom of the polls for Auburn, which received 100 points in the AP poll. That total is well behind No. 24 Cincinnati’s 149 points.