STARKVILLE &045; Ask a member of the LSU defense in past seasons what a sack was, and they looked at you as if you uttered a word in gibberish.

It was one of head coach Nick Saban’s pet peeves. Saban is a defensive specialist, himself a defensive back at Kent State in the early 1970s and a former defensive coordinator with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns (1991-94).

Last year, the Tigers defense got to the quarterback just 27 times in 12 games, seventh best in the Southeastern Conference.

However, the 2003 season is a chapter No. 1 of a new novel. With five sacks of Mississippi State quarterback Kevin Fant in Saturday’s 41-6 pounding, LSU already has 15 sacks on the year for an SEC-best 111 yards for loss.

&uot;It all starts with Coach Saban with all those million blitzes he’s been teaching us,&uot; said Tiger cornerback Travis Daniels, who had a sack and also return an interception 54 yards for a score Saturday. &uot;It helps having a front four that gets to the quarterback. As long as we keep (the quarterback) rattled we’ll be all right.&uot;

The education of the Tigers began to produce fruit in the 17-10 upset of Georgia Sept. 20, where LSU used all sorts of blitzes &045; Saban has named them after states &045; to disrupt UGA quarterback David Greene.

The Tigers wrapped Greene up four times, handed the junior quarterback his first interceptions in 176 attempts and batted down 10 balls.

&uot;We felt like (the Bulldogs’) skill is a strength of their team,&uot; Saban said. &uot;We thought getting pressure on (Fant) would not allow their receivers to get the ball. But (State) made some great catches.&uot;

MAILING IT IN? &045; Anybody up for a walk onto the fragile icy lake that is the Bulldog program currently?

An NCAA investigation hanging over the program, the school’s first on-field 0-4 start since 1968 and disgruntled players that are tired of playing the politically correct game.

&uot;Nobody is quitting. I’m not saying we are bad,&uot; said State linebacker T.J. Mawhinney, who tied for the team lead with eight tackles Saturday. &uot;There is not one specific thing missing. I guess the only thing could be a lack of focus. We just have to execute the plays. Missing tackles and dropping balls are keeping us off focus.&uot;

The Bulldogs, traditionally a team that wore opponents down by grinding yards out, managed 31 net rushing yards on 30 attempts Saturday.

And as far as turnovers go, the Tigers made State pay each and every time they coughed the ball up or Fant threw an interception, turning four miscues into 28 points.

&uot;I think we weren’t prepared for LSU. Kevin had a lot of pressure on him,&uot; said splint end Justin Jenkins, who caught the only Bulldog points of the game with 10:12 left in the fourth quarter. &uot;Our confidence is down. We’re 0-4, but we have a lot of games left. Everybody wants to win, but everybody has to do their part.&uot;

NO LETDOWN &045; Mention Florida 1997, and the first thing hordes of LSU fans will claim is that they were at the game where the Tigers knocked off the No. 1 Gators 28-21, ripping up nearly every piece of the Death Valley Field.

However, none of those same fans will assert they were in the Tiger Stadium bleachers the week after when LSU turned in a lackluster performance in a 36-21 loss to Ole Miss.

Check the books and you’ll find LSU never plays well after a big win.

But since he took over before the 200 season, Saban has brought a new mentality to the program, and he hopes Saturday’s was a snippet of the statement to come.

&uot;We practiced better this week than the week of Georgia,&uot; Saban said. &uot;I was pleased with the energy level in pregame, but we’ve got to stay consistently at that high level. We’ve got to get better consistency in our execution.&uot;