Brian Kelly and LSU enter another rivalry this week with The Golden Boot at Arkansas.

On the SEC coaches media teleconference, Kelly addressed the status of the game.

“I think there is a rivalry,” he said. “Obviously we lost the trophy last year in overtime. It means a lot to our guys each and every week. There’s such a great history and tradition. … The Golden Boot is one that the guys know about. It’s important. They want to get that trophy back. … For me, it’s new, but it’s great to know the history and tradition of each one of these.”

Harold Perkins has been one of the bright spots for LSU this season, and Kelly spoke to how he came to be a big-time contributor.

“The process was he came in as an inside linebacker,” Kelly said. “We identified early on that that was going to take longer getting him into the rotation on the field. We moved him to outside linebacker, which was an easier fit because we could put him in different packages. … This was about giving him as much as he could handle and then getting the best 11 players. There was an evolution here along the way. But I think we found out early on that this was a young man we needed to get on the field and then we had to figure out a way to do that without putting too much on him.”

Kelly has coached in plenty of big-time atmospheres, but put Tiger Stadium last week in a class by itself.

“I think it was one of the best sustained atmospheres that I’ve coached in,” he said. “… The play was so good on both sides of the ball that it engaged the fans for 4 quarters. Usually there’s an up and down where there’s a bit of a lull, but the way the kids played on both sides of the ball, it kept (the fans) on the edge of their seats all night.”