Top-ranked Alabama is in the driver seat to make a return trip to the College Football Playoff, and possibly repeat as national champions.First, the Tide must take care of the rival LSU Tigers at Death Valley on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, CBS).Theyve got a very good team, playing very, very well right now, Alabama coach Nick Saban said. New energy and enthusiasm. There have been a lot of really good games between these two teams through the years. Its kind of developed into a rivalry game of sorts. Weve both been ranked over the last eight or nine years, most of the time in the Top 10.This is a real challenge game for us. Well find out who we are, what were made of and how we can compete in a very difficult circumstance.It is not quite the annual Game of the Century that it was in recent years, but it is still LSU and Alabama, and there still is quite a big at stake.The Tigers (5-2, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) fired head coach Les Miles after a 2-2 start, but they are 3-0 under Ed Orgeron, and they are No. 13 in the first CFP rankings. They can tighten the race in the SEC West if they can upset the top-ranked Crimson Tide (8-0, 5-0).Saban said he considers LSU unbeaten, because the Tigers have not lost on Oregerons watch. He repeated the idea to his team during the two-week buildup to this showdown.A win would greatly bolster Orgerons case to be named the permanent successor to Miles, but with games against Arkansas, Florida and Texas A&M in a 13-day stretch looming, there is still a lot of regular-season work left after Alabama for LSU and Orgeron to get to where they want to be.Both teams are coming off an open date and should be well rested.That should be especially good news for Tigers All-America running back Leonard Fournette, who is the healthiest he has been all season. He had two weeks to heal after a record-setting performance against Ole Miss in the Tigers most recent game.I havent really seen a guy dominate a game like he did that game for a long time, Saban said. We have a tremendous amount of respect for him, and he looks as good as ever and maybe even better.The Crimson Tide stymied Fournette in their 30-16 win last season, holding him to 31 yards on 19 rushes.Were going to do some things with Leonard that hes able to do, Orgeron said. I think that whatever happened last year is the past. We have a great game plan for Leonard.But its going to be very tough moving the football on this defense. Theyre one of the best defenses Ive ever seen.Orgeron said the key to the game will be whether the Tigers can get Fournette the football in some plays that we think he runs very well and protect quarterback Danny Etling.Fournette is coming off the most prolific rushing game in LSU history -- a 284-yard performance in a 38-21 win against Ole Miss. However, it is Fournettes least-productive performance in his three seasons that also is significant entering this game. Alabama smothered Fournette last season and used single coverage outside, blatantly showing the hand of a defensive game plan that invited LSU to throw the ball.Fournette and the offensive line will be committed to improving significantly on that performance, and he will have to be a bigger factor than he was last season if the Tigers are going to pull off the upset.We think we can get some receivers down the field, but we got to be able to protect (Etling) long enough to be able to protect the quarterback to get those plays down the field, Orgeron said. Its going to be protection first. We have to protect our quarterback in order to get the ball down the field. Were going to have to do some things with Leonard that enables him to be in space and run the football.Alabama leads the series 50-25-5 and has won each of the past five meetings. In the past five games at Tiger Stadium, each team scored a total of 103 points, and two of those games went into overtime. The Crimson Tide won three of those five games. Air Max Outlet . -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. Cheap Real Air Max . He was followed closely by David Clarkson, donning red, seconds later. Clarksons actions one night earlier, leaping off the bench in defence of Kessel during a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres, will cost him the first 10 games of the regular season. https://www.airmaxchina.us/ . The 28-year-old from Calgary matched his career best after missing just one shot in his two rounds of shooting in the mens 10-kilometre sprint competition. Smith finished in 23 minutes 15. Air Max Sale . John Tavares, Thomas Vanek and Kyle Okposo were also being counted on to slow down sizzling Rangers forward Rick Nash. That plan didnt go so well early. Fake Air Max . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. There were 94 instances this season where hitters went at least seven consecutive games without a hit. In fairness, some of these streaks of futility consisted primarily of the one-and-done variety, made up of a majority of failed pinch-hit efforts, like Matt Szczurs seven-game, nine at-bat oh-fer in late June. However, many were a lot more damaging to your fantasy teams results.From Mikie Mahtooks 0-for-31 over a 10-game stretch in late August, to Carlos Beltrans 0-for-32 run of futility arouund the same time, and Chris Davis 0-for 24 over seven games in mid-July, there are several examples of players of all skill levels going through long stretches of hitless outings.dddddddddddd Just one such dismal streak of box scores in your points league lineup could easily doom your team should it come over the next few weeks, especially in a head-to-head format. ' ' '