At This Point, All LSU Games Are Big Ones

Nov 18, 2003

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- A shot at a conference title is at stake Saturday when No. 3 LSU visits No. 15 Mississippi. LSU coach Nick Saban won't dwell on the implications and wishes others would follow his lead.

``You just can't get it through your head that when you make things high stakes, it creates expectations and anxiety that is not good for performance,'' Saban chided reporters asking about it. ``Why would I go tell the team today, 'This is the biggest game you're ever gonna play in your life. And if we don't win, we're gonna push you all off a cliff.' Why would we do that? How would that make us play better?''

With a victory, Ole Miss (8-2, 6-0) can clinch the SEC West title and attempt to win its first conference championship in 40 years.

If LSU wins, the Tigers (9-1, 5-1) can clinch the SEC West a week later with a victory over Arkansas.

So, talk about how special and important the next game is, can be heard everywhere at LSU -- except the locker room.

``At this point, if you're playing in the SEC, they're all big games, all important,'' LSU tackle Andrew Whitworth said. ``You just have to learn to take them as they come. Not make any one of them more special.''

``It's a very important game,'' Saban said. ``But when you win, the next game that you play is always a big game.''

The last time these teams were part of the conference title race was in 1970. That's also the last time both LSU and Ole Miss were ranked going into the game.

There's also a long-standing rivalry. These teams have played 92 times.

``Obviously there's gonna be a little more adrenaline going. It's hard not to realize what's at stake. But you realize you can't get too fired up,'' LSU quarterback Matt Mauck said. ``Everybody knows it's a huge game on our schedule. But say we do win this game, we still have to beat Arkansas. So every game is a big game from here on out.''

The Tigers, No. 4 in the BCS standings, have won four straight since losing to Florida. Those victories have come by at least 24 points, something LSU hasn't done since 1911.

LSU has the No. 1 scoring defense in the nation, allowing 8.9 points a game, and No. 4 in total offense.

Mississippi is also on a roll. The Rebels have won six straight games and lead the SEC in total offense, scoring offense and passing offense. What's more, Ole Miss has a knack for beating the Tigers, winning four of the past six meetings.