LSU has its fate in its own hands.

The Tigers (5-2 overall) are 3-1 in the SEC after a 45-35 victory at Florida on Saturday night.

Only 1 team in the West Division is undefeated. That’s Ole Miss, and the Rebels come to Tiger Stadium this Saturday.

Only 1 team in the West besides LSU has just 1 loss. That’s Alabama, and the Crimson Tide follow the Rebels into Tiger Stadium (on Nov. 5 after an open date).

It’s Tell the Truth Monday, and the truth is that if the Tigers win their next 2 games everyone else in the SEC West will be playing catch-up to LSU.

Victories against Ole Miss and Alabama would mean that the Tigers, at worst, would have the same number of losses as the Rebels — and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage. And they would have fewer losses than every other team in the West.

Of course, there is a lot more truth to be told on this Monday:

— LSU will be an underdog against both Ole Miss and Alabama.

— No one expects the Tigers to win both games.

— The general expectation is that a pair of losses are much more likely than a pair of victories.

— Even if they were to win the next 2 games, the last 2 SEC games (at Arkansas and at Texas A&M) are losable.

So, we’re not expecting to see LSU in Atlanta on the 1st Saturday in December.

But the truth is, things don’t always go as expected.

Who would have expected the Tigers to score 45 points on Saturday after their scoring had steadily declined in SEC play — from 31 points against Mississippi State, to 21 against Auburn, to 13 against Tennessee?

But head coach Brian Kelly and his staff told the players last week that they were going to “reset,” they were going to work on fundamentals and re-emphasize details.

As a result, the Tigers bounced back.

Sure, Florida is not the same as Tennessee. But LSU on last Saturday was better than LSU on the previous Saturday.

And it will have to be even better this Saturday if it’s going to have a chance to hand Ole Miss its first loss of the season.

And it will have to be better still if it’s going to beat Alabama 2 weeks after that.

It has to stop dropping punts and kickoffs. It has to stop allowing opponents to cover half the length of the field on individual punt or kickoff returns.

It has to tackle better and allow fewer explosive plays.

It has to consistently perform on offense more like it did against Florida than like it did in its other SEC games.

“Our guys are starting to feel more comfortable with the offense and what we’re trying to do with it,” Kelly said.

Jayden Daniels has been arguably the Tigers’ best player even as he has experienced some growing pains running the offense.

At times, he has been too quick to run. At times, he has been too slow to challenge the defense.

Against Florida, he was decisive and efficient and made big plays as both a runner and a thrower.

He had 3 touchdown passes and 3 touchdown runs, becoming the 1st LSU player to do that within the confines of 4 quarters. Joe Burrow matched those numbers against Texas A&M in 2018, but he needed most of 7 overtimes to do it.

At some point, it would be helpful to the Tigers to actually score 1st against an SEC opponent and spend less time playing from behind. They did a better job of that against the Gators, leading for the final 32-plus minutes.

They finally got wide receiver Kayshon Boutte — widely regarded as the best player on the team entering the season — to have an impact with 6 catches for 115 yards.

“If he plays at that level,” Kelly said, “we’re a different football team.”

LSU certainly was a different football team against Florida than it was against Tennessee. Kelly and his staff coached better, and the players played better.

The Tigers were badly lacking in their only game against a ranked team this season.

They get another crack at measuring up to a ranked team this weekend.