Nick Saban Not Phased By Mississippi State’s Cowbells [VIDEO]

Alabama has not played in an environment this season that is quite like the one they will play in on Saturday. The fans at Mississippi State are known for using the assistance of cowbells to help make Davis-Wade Stadium as loud as possible.

However, Nick Saban is not phased by the cowbells because he thinks that all conference road games are difficult.

"I have been in this league 14 years. I've yet to go anywhere where it's not tough to play," Saban said. "You tell me where it's not tough to play? It was tough to play at Georgia, it was tough to play at A&M, and it is will to be tough to play this week at this place."

"The cowbells are the cowbells. You can think about and focus on the cowbells or you can focus on what you need to do, to do your job."

In his opening statement, Saban announced that wide receiver Chris Black underwent surgery to fix a "nagging ankle injury."

"Chris Black, who has injured his ankle way back in camp, he has tried and tried to compete for us all year long," Saban said. "He hasn't gotten to play a whole lot. Sometimes he felt better than others, but it has been a nagging, reoccurring thing. We all felt like the best thing he could do is to go ahead and get it repaired because it was something that could be repaired. We made that decision this week. He did everything he could for the team, and he did everything he could to try to play. I know it was disappointing for him not to get to play more, but it was a lot to do with not being full speed all year long."

Black had two receptions for 23 yards on the year.

Saban also talked about the Tide's overall preparation for Mississippi State, and the approach they will take to slowing down Dak Prescott. Alabama-Mississippi State has a scheduled 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff on CBS.

Watch player interviews from Wednesday: