Clemson cornerback Mackensie Alexander crowned himself as college football's best cornerback in August. His defensive coordinator is withholding judgment until next Saturday.

No. 11 Clemson hosts No. 6 Notre Dame on Oct. 3, and Tigers defensive coordinator Brent Venables told reporters Fighting Irish star Will Fuller is "probably the best receiver in America" according to The Post and Courier.

Fuller certainly belongs in the conversation with the torrid pace he's setting. He's fifth nationally in receiving yards (397), tied for first in touchdowns (five) and among receivers with at least 10 catches he's sixth in yards per catch (22.06) and 11th in air yards per target (15.41).

Then there is also the winning touchdown against Virginia in Week 2 and the long score Saturday against Georgia Tech to open the scoring.

"They got probably the best receiver in America," Venables told reporters. "I haven't really watched a bunch of people. He might be the best there is. He gets my vote from the guys I've watched on tape, by a landslide.

"...Fuller's very dynamic. Fuller's big, and really fast, and can go up and high-point the ball. Runs very good routes, gets in and out of his breaks extremely well. Yeah. This guy's better than Greene."

Greene would be record-setting Florida State receiver Rashad Greene, who graduated after the 2014 season. That is high praise for Fuller considering Greene torched the Tigers in four games with 29 catches, 415 yards and five touchdowns, the last of which came last September on a 74-yard score to tie the game with six minutes left. Florida State won in overtime.

That touchdown came against Alexander, a redshirt freshman at the time. Alexander would respond to have a tremendous freshman season, however, and the rest of the Tigers' pass defense was equally dominant the rest of 2014.

So far it's carried into 2015, too. The Tigers rank first in opposing raw QBR (11.7) and third in completion percentage (43.2 percent). They're tied for fourth in TD/INT ratio (0.20) and 10th in interception rate (6.2).

"I told Mackensie, this will be the best one you've seen," Venables said. "But he won't be the only guy on him."

Venables said Alexander did not say much when he told him that, but this week is a pivotal one for the star sophomore.

"We're about to find out what the heck [Alexander is] all about," he said.

If Clemson can shut down Fuller, it could cause problems for new Irish starting quarterback DeShone Kizer. Fuller is easily the Irish's top threat in the passing game, and eliminating Kizer's favorite target could fluster the inexperienced sophomore. The Irish are also without tight end Durham Smythe.