Alabama coach Nick Saban famously used the phrase "rat poison" to describe positive media coverage after the Crimson Tide beat Texas A&M in 2017.
The phrase has made its way to Norman. Quarterback Jalen Hurts, who spent the last three seasons at Alabama before transferring to Oklahoma, has repeatedly described praise of OU's offense as "rat poison."
Saban doesn't mind that Hurts has adopted his line. The Alabama coach was asked Wednesday on the SEC teleconference why he thinks the phrase resonated with Hurts.
"I just think Jalen’s a really bright guy," Saban said. "I think he has come from a very successful program where we had to deal with a lot of positive accolades and be able to stay motivated and not lose our humility or get complacent about how we were doing things.