Ole Miss hasn’t played in 3 weeks. They played a grand total of 2 games since Halloween.

Since their last game, they’ve had a week-long pause due to a COVID-19 outbreak and inked the majority of their 2021 signing class. You get the picture. Ole Miss has had a lot of time off.

What should you expect in the regular-season finale from a team that has won its last 3 but has had to navigate obstacles in between? Ole Miss will be rested but will it be sharp?

“I don’t think it’s ideal,” Lane Kiffin said. “We’re definitely going to have fresh legs. That part is good. It has taken a little time getting back into it. And we don’t have everybody yet. The COVID guys are trickling back in, some got back today, some are back tomorrow. That’s a whole different challenge. Some of them are very significant players.”

The challenges this team has had to overcome are not unique in the sport in 2020 but are certainly unique in the sense it is not something anyone has ever had to conquer before. This game doesn’t have as much luster as it did when the revised schedule came out. A fledgling 4-5 LSU team against an upstart Rebels squad that has overachieved in Year 1 under Kiffin, but the stakes of this game seem nonexistent on the surface. This game matters, though, for a number of reasons for Ole Miss (4-4).

Simply put, it is the difference between a winning and losing regular season in Kiffin’s first year. That matters to a degree. It matters in terms of a likely bowl destination and offseason momentum as well as cementing the progress Ole Miss has made under less than ideal circumstances. The program signed a 2021 class on Wednesday that has a chance to crack the top 15 in the sport. Couple that with winning 4 games in a row to end this season, and there becomes even more to sell heading into an offseason that his hopefully preparation for a much more normal 2021 campaign.

Two weeks ago, most reasonable people would have figured Ole Miss may rip an LSU team lacking any interest in participating in the game. That all changed last week when the Tigers pulled a stunner in The Swamp as 23-point underdogs and ruined Florida’s chance at the College Football Playoff. Neither team will be at full strength but it does appear both will be interested and motivated.

How is Kiffin motivating his team in a finale that feels like a formality?

“You’re going to remember the rest of your life if you go into Tiger Stadium and beat LSU,” Kiffin said. “Nobody’s going to remember if it’s COVID or opt-outs or any of that stuff. Pretty neat. None of these guys have done that. This is a huge game and really important, too, besides beating LSU, I think all of you guys would’ve said that this was a successful season, after seeing the all-SEC schedule rollout, that you’re going to have a winning record, so it’ll be awesome.”

Despite the challenges that had to be conquered for this game to even be played, despite the dampened mood surrounding it and the logistical nightmare this season has been for programs across the country, this game matters for Ole Miss in more ways than one. A 5-4 mark sounds better than 4-5 and winning 4 in a row as the program rides toward a bowl and then into its most promising offseason in half a decade is something that matters as Kiffin and staff try to build a contender in Oxford.