STARKVILLE — This should be a column about how OIe Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, the best story in college football this season, threw for 359 yards and four touchdowns and played error-less football to lead the Rebels to a 38-19 Egg Bowl victory.

It should be a column about how Ole Miss completed an 11-victory regular season, the first in Mississippi NCAA Division I history.

It should be a column about how Kewan Lacy ran around through Mississippi State for 143 yards and a touchdown and continues to give Ole Miss the ground game the Rebels lacked last season. Lacy might be the biggest reason why the Rebels will go to the FBS playoffs this year instead of falling just short as they did last year.

This could also be a column about how the future of Mississippi State football, whose name is Kemario Taylor and who raced for 173 yards and two scores and threw for another 178 yards in a losing cause. Taylor is a tall, sleek, ridiculously talented freshman you can build a program around, as 60,000 or so fans could attest on a sunny, brisk Friday afternoon at historic Scott Field..

But none of that is the focus of this column, and you knew it wouldn’t be. Lane Kiffin and his immediate future sucked the air out of all the rest of the storylines. Kiffin was the reason why several national sports reporters found their ways to Starkville on Friday. He’s the reason why so many Ole Miss fans will have their nerves wracked for at least one more day.

And, no, Kiffin had no definitive answers Friday. No, he said, he hasn’t made a decision. Yes, he allowed, he will have a decision sometime Saturday. “I feel like I’ve got to,” he said.

“It is not as enjoyable as people think it is,” Kiffin said of the decision-making process.

For those who have been completely out of touch, Kiffin is weighing offers from LSU and Florida against remaining at Ole Miss. To coach his Rebels in the playoffs, he would have to turn down the other suitors.

“I’ve got some praying to do to figure this thing out,” Kiffin said. ”I’m living one day at a time. I know that doesn’t help you, but it helps me.”

Kiffin said he had no idea when an announcement on his future will come Saturday. “If’s a fair question, but I really don’t know. It’s not my call,” he said.

Kiffin said he planned to go watch his son, Knox Kiffin, quarterback the Oxford Chargers in their playoff game Friday night at Tupelo.

“I’m gonna go be a dad,” he said.

Above all else, Kiffin seemed hellbent on making it clear that he was never worried about how his players would respond to all the noise about his future.

“I know the storyline about the distractions,” Kiffin said. “But we build our team different. What you may think is distracting, I don’t think is. We teach our players to focus on what they control and to block out the rest. If anything, all that distraction bonds them together to stay focused.”

Perhaps, but that doesn’t explain the Rebel collapse in 2022 when Auburn was the well-publicized Kiffin suitor and the distracted Rebels lost four of their last five games.

As for the decision he faces now, Kiffin is clearly anguished. This comes from a sports writer not a mind reader, but Kiffin really did appear to be struggling with the decision post-game. That was especially apparent when he was asked about people he could reach out to for advice and when he appeared to become emotional. He mentioned Nick Saban and Pete Carroll.

“Obviously, my dad,” Kiffin said, pausing to gather himself. “I’ve really missed him this week.”

Monte Kiffin died 16 months ago.

So what will Lane Kiffin do? Hell if I know. I think, given his track record, he won’t make the call until he has to. Apparently, he has pretty much ruled out Florida and it the decision is between staying at Ole Miss or leaving for the Rebels’ bitter rival LSU.

My guess?

My guess is that Lane Kiffin really wants in his heart of hearts to take the LSU job. But then, I don’t see how any coach could lead his team to 50 victories over five seasons, lead his team to the playoffs for the national championship – and then say good-bye to them before the first playoff game is played.

Lane Kiffin might do that, but I’ll believe it only when it happens.