FORT LAUDERDALE – Don’t show up early to the Orange Bowl with hopes of seeing another pre-game confrontation between Mackensie Alexander and Sterling Shepard.

Clemson’s star cornerback and Oklahoma’s top wide receiver engaged in serious war of words during warmups at the Russell Athletic Bowl last December. It was heated, animated and required some intervention by cooler heads. The encounter was also pretty well-documented.

On Monday, Shepard told reporters that his days of pre-game trash talk are behind him.

“I really don’t talk that much, as I did last year. I kind of had a sit-down with some people that are near and dear to me, to talk about that, because I did a lot of that last year,” he said, “But I just try to get away from that and just focus on my game. You’ve got to let your game do the talking, so it’s kind of a different Sterling Shepard approach to this game coming up this season.”

Alexander got the best of him where it mattered most. Shepard caught one pass for 13 yards in Clemson’s 40-6 win.

Of the individual matchups set to take place in Thursday’s first College Football Playoff game, Alexander v. Shepard II is sure to get plenty of attention.

“I haven’t been focusing on it too much,” Shepard said. “This is a team game. You’ve got to focus on that, more than anything. You’ve got to come out with a W, so I’m not really focused on a 1-on-1 matchup that much.”

Shepard, who has 79 catches for 1,201 yards and 11 touchdowns this season, respects Alexander’s game. After all, Shepard has a first-hand account of just how good he is.

“It’s kind of hard to deal with bigger corners, but his length is one thing that he has going for him,” Shepard said. “Physical guy, too.”