Kerryon Johnson is almost indifferent in his reaction when he watches Auburn's defense from the sideline on Saturday. It's not that he's not impressed with what the unit does week in and week out so much as he's not surprised by the Tigers' defensive performance.

For Johnson and the rest of Auburn's offense, they've grown accustomed to seeing the relentless effort and ensuing results from the other side of the ball, both in practice and in games.

"Honestly, it's just like, eh, because what we see every Saturday, we've seen all preseason," Johnson said. "We see how those guys work out, the intensity they work out with, the intensity they come to with drills during the summer and the spring, so we've seen it far more than other people have seen it. At this point, we're just like, 'I'm glad it's happening to somebody else.'

"To see them play like that, week in, week out, now, don't get me wrong -- it is very impressive. But to our offense, we know this is what they're capable of doing to every team."

Through four weeks, Auburn's defense has thrived. Kevin Steele's unit has not allowed more than 14 points in any game this season, and the Tigers' defense ranks in the top 10 in four major categories.

Auburn ranks seventh nationally in scoring defense (11.7 points per game), fourth nationally in total defense (236.3 yards per game), 10th in passing defense (138.8 yards per game) and fourth in yards allowed per play (3.63). The Tigers are also in the top-20 in rushing defense (17th, 97.5 yards per game) and sacks (18th, 12 total sacks) this season.

Auburn's defense also leads the nation in fewest plays of 30-plus yards allowed this year. The Tigers have surrendered just one such play -- a 33-yard pass against Clemson.

"That's a tribute to how hard our guys are playing, how disciplined they are, our coaches are doing a super job and their message is to keep improving," Malzahn said. "Like I said earlier, even if it's just a little bit, that's the name of the game and that's their mindset. They've got a chance to really be a special defensive unit if they keep improving and it's a big-time luxury to have right now, from a coach's standpoint."

That's perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Auburn's defensive performance this year. For as dominant as the defense has been -- and doing so coming off a top-10 season a year ago -- the Tigers' defenders aren't satisfied.

As far as they're concerned, they haven't exceeded any expectations this season. If anything, they've yet to reach their own expectations.

"We still have a long way to go," safety Tray Matthews said. "Coach Steele keeps on saying we can get better. As we watch film after every game there's still a lot of things we can clean up and perfect so we're still, you know, climbing up the ladder."

Effort has never been an issue for Auburn's defense this season, but Matthews -- who added that Auburn doesn't pay attention to stats -- said the biggest area with room for improvement heading into this weekend's home game against No. 24 Mississippi State (3-1, 1-1 SEC) is communication. Pre-snap communication in particular needs to improve, according to Matthews, who said all 11 guys need to be on the same page -- and that a lot of that responsibility falls to him at safety as the CEO of the defense.

Once Auburn gets that straightened out, the defense could reach its full potential under Steele.

"When I hired him, our goal was to become a top-10 defense and be consistent with that," Malzahn said. "He's well on his way to establishing that. He's done a good job with our players, and they're a very confident group right now and playing very good."