STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Alabama and Mississippi State are schools about 85 miles apart on U.S. Highway 82, but for years their football programs weren't nearly as close.

Until three years ago, 'Bama owned a 15-game winning streak and a 66-11-3 advantage in the series.

And now?

State has won the last three games -- for the first time since 1914 -- and Alabama coach Mike DuBose is saying things like:

"We're a bigger, stronger team than we were at this time last year, but we're still not as big and still not as strong as Mississippi State. We still have some catching up to do."

And:

"(Coach) Jackie (Sherrill) and his staff have done a great job since he's been there. This is by far his best football team, as good a team as we've played against on both sides of the football and special teams."

Consider that 11th-ranked Alabama, which will play host to State at Saturday in a game that's huge in the Southeastern Conference's Western Division, already has played No. 3 Tennessee and No. 4 Florida.

The Bulldogs are 7th and 8th in national polls. Their 8-0 record is the best start in school history.

"It's a big tribute to the coaches and certainly to the players and to this program when Alabama's coaches and players are saying this is the biggest game they will play," Sherrill said. "When I was a player (at Alabama), playing Mississippi State was always tough, but Tennessee, Auburn and Georgia Tech were the games you really focused on."

"That means there are an awful lot of things happening over here."

Crimson Tide players and coaches haven't said they didn't focus on Florida or Tennessee, only that the significance and timing of Saturday's game has become all-important.

"I said going into the year there were several games that would tell us just how far we have come and how much further we still have to go," DuBose said, mentioning Arkansas, Florida and Tennessee. "There's no question that this is one of those games."

And, like in the last several years, State is still trying to gain respect.

"A lot of people say they haven't played anybody, but they're still undefeated," said Tide center Paul Hogan. "People said that about Alabama in '92."

That year 'Bama won the national championship with a 13-0 record.

Among the happenings at State are that the Bulldogs lead the nation in total defense (allowing 198.5 yard per game); and have an 11-game regular-season winning streak.

"We're doing something that's never been done at the school," said junior cornerback Fred Smoot, "and we want to keep it going."

A victory over 'Bama (7-2, 5-1 in SEC) would be a major step toward a second consecutive appearance as the West's representative in the SEC championship game Dec. 4 in Atlanta. State shared the division title with Arkansas last year.

"Defensively, we knew we had a chance to have a good football team," Sherrill said. "Our defense is very good.

"You usually end up with size up front that might not have the speed, or you have speed and not size. We're fortunate to have both."

The strength and agility of State's defense, coordinated by Joe Lee Dunn, influenced changes in the Tide offense this year.

"That's one of the reasons we went to the type of offense we've gone to," DuBose said, "to spread the field and try to force people to spread the field (on defense)."

Despite the success, questions continue about how good the Bulldogs are, especially on offense.

They've won their last three games by a total of four points. Each was a come-from-behind victory -- 18-16 over Auburn, 17-16 over LSU and 23-22 over Kentucky, which is the only team of the three with a winning record.

"When you win like that it just gives you so much confidence," said senior Matt Wyatt, a backup quarterback who sparked two of the rallies.

Sherrill, whose nine-year record at MSU is 57-37-2 for regular-season games, sees the close victories as a plus.

"This is a team that won't give up. They've going to fight you," he said.

Sherrill bristled when asked about the strength of schedule.

"I've said it, and I'll say it again," he said. "Tennessee, Florida, Georgia ... if you give them an opportunity to play us or play some of the people they play, they would not want to play us, either."

Starting with Saturday's game, the schedule toughens. State plays Arkansas in Little Rock next week and hosts 18th-ranked Ole Miss, Nov. 25.

"To lose them would take everything away that we've worked for this whole season," Smoot said, dismissing the possibility with a frown.

"The last three years, we've won some big, big games," Sherrill said. "But you have to do it every year. People talk about respect. You earn respect because you're able to do it for a period of time. You can't do it one year and go from three to five or eight years before you do it again."

(Bobby Hall writes for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.)