The noise around Saturday night in Oxford is already humming, and it only gets louder from here. No.
7 LSU and No. 8 Ole Miss are set for a 6:30 p.m.
CT kickoff on ABC, and the buildup has turned the Week 3 matchup into one of the most talked-about games on the board.
Lane Kiffin made it clear Tuesday that he expects the spotlight to stay fixed squarely on him. He said the Rebels can play without carrying that burden, while the outside world piles the pressure onto his side of the story.
"I told the players today, man, like you don't have anything to worry about as far as like attention on you all week and everything. There's just gonna be so much attention, hatred, everything on me," Kiffin said.
"I said you just get to go play, and I said, really, the pressure is on [Ole Miss]. We won seven games last year.
They won 13. They return two Heisman candidates.
How often does that ever happen in the same backfield?"
One of those Heisman candidates is Kewan Lacy, who chose to stay in Oxford for the 2026 season after a 2025 run that sent him into the record books. He thrived in Kiffin and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr.’s system last year, and now he’s preparing for a game that puts him on the opposite sideline from a familiar coach and a familiar setup.
Lacy said the way to keep his head straight this week is pretty simple.
"I say just by focusing on our details and our preparation," Lacy said on Tuesday. "Just focusing on the main thing - our alignment, assignment and what we need to accomplish as a team."
He also said he keeps his attention locked in once the season starts.
"I normally just focus on ball during the season, so I don't really talk to nobody," Lacy added when asked if he talks to any players that departed Ole Miss for LSU.
Ole Miss’ offense under its new leadership is still in the early stages, but Lacy said the Rebels are intent on keeping tempo at the center of everything. There’s work to do, he admitted, and the group is still sorting through pieces as it goes.
"It's early on in the season, so we're just still working through some stuff. But I feel like we can get better at everything - tempo, moving the ball, really just everything. Just piecing it together day by day," Lacy said.
Asked directly about whether he has a relationship with Kiffin after the coach’s departure, Lacy didn’t dress it up.
"Really don't have a relationship with him. Just focus on the season," Lacy said before walking off the podium.
So while the buildup keeps circling around Kiffin, former Rebels, and all the rest of the Week 3 chatter, Ole Miss and LSU are headed for a heavyweight night in Oxford with plenty of storylines already in place.
In Other News...
LSU Just Scored Another Court Win In Its SEC Eligibility Fight
Another legal turn went LSUs way this week in the eligibility fight surrounding some of its athletes, as the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal rejected the Southeastern Conferences bid to pause the case and pursue supervisory writs. The ruling keeps in place a Baton Rouge district courts preliminary injunction, which stops the NCAA and SEC from blocking LSU from putting certain players on its football roster while their eligibility claims work through the legal process.
For LSU, the immediate importance is less about the courtroom language than the roster flexibility it preserves in the middle of a dispute that is still very much alive. The SEC has already taken the matter in a different direction as well, filing a separate federal lawsuit against LSU and its officials, so the conference office is clearly not done pressing its side even after this latest setback in state court. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Fans Are Facing A Brutal Price To See This Ole Miss Showdown
The buzz around Saturdays LSU trip to Ole Miss has pushed the ticket market into eye-watering territory, with fans hunting for a seat at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium finding very little relief. The cheapest listings on SeatGeek are sitting around $467 with fees, while secondary market data shows a median price near $862, a reflection of how much attention this matchup has generated.
It is, after all, a top-10 meeting with ESPNs College GameDay in town and Lane Kiffin back in Oxford now wearing LSU colors, which only adds to the intrigue. For Tigers fans hoping to make the trip, the challenge is no longer just watching one of the SECs biggest games, but figuring out whether the price of admission is worth it. [Read more 🡒]
Ex-LSU Star Mansoor Delane Made An Instant NFL Impact At A Cost
Mansoor Delane wasted no time making his presence felt in the NFL. Drafted sixth overall by the Kansas City Chiefs, the former LSU standout forced an interception on just his third snap in his debut, a reminder of the sticky coverage and ball skills that made him such a tough target in Baton Rouge.
Delanes first pro moment came with an immediate catch, though it also brought an early concern for Kansas City. He re-injured a right shoulder issue on the play and did not return, leaving the Chiefs with one of the days sharpest defensive flashes and an unsettling update on a player they expected to lean on right away. [Read more 🡒]