Kaleb Johnson is gearing up to face a tough Ohio State defense in Week 6.

The Big Ten’s leading rusher if very familiar with the Buckeyes — he grew up in the state of Ohio, after all. But Johnson told reporters on Tuesday that he never gave much thought to attending Ohio State, and says he wouldn’t have committed to OSU even if he had been offered coming out of high school.

“I feel like even if they had offered me, I wouldn’t have went,” Johnson said. “Because, I feel like I want to beat them.”

Johnson continued by saying this is always how he’s approached the game.

“A lot of people want to play against them because they’re the top dogs,” Johnson said. “That’s what I want to do. I’m really looking forward to it. It’s going to be really fun.

“I’m the type of person that wants to beat the top dogs. I don’t want to be with them, I want to beat them. So it’s always a thing for me to show what I’ve got against the best people in the country. That’s what I want to do.”

Here’s video of Johnson’s comments:

So far this season, Johnson has 685 yards and 9 touchdowns on the ground for the Hawkeyes. He’s in the midst of a breakout campaign that will surely have him at the top of Ohio State’s scouting report for Saturday’s game.

Coming out of high school, Johnson was a consensus 3-star prospect coming out of Hamilton, Ohio. He was the No. 15 player from the state of Ohio for the class of 2022, per 247Sports Composite rankings.

Johnson and the Hawkeyes will face Ohio State on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET.