Rebel Notebook, presented by JFQ Lending: Rebels gearing up for Egg Bowl

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OXFORD -- Jonathan Mingo knows he won't be 100 percent healthy until sometime after the season, but not feeling perfect isn't going to keep him off the field Thursday night.

"I'm good enough to go," Mingo said. "I've got brothers who are hurt. I'm hurt, too. We're going to fight to the end.

"I really don't try to think about pain. I just try to do my assignment and get the job done, so when I'm in the game, I don't think about the pain. I just focus on my job."

Mingo has 16 catches this season, but he's played in just four games. Prior to the Rebels' fourth game of the season, a trip to Alabama, Mingo suffered a broken foot. He got back on the field for the first time this past Saturday, catching a pass during the Rebels' 31-17 over Vanderbilt.

Mingo and No. 8 Ole Miss (9-2 overall, 5-2 in the Southeastern Conference) will try to wrap up a New Year's Six bowl game Thursday night at Mississippi State (7-4, 4-3). Mingo has gone to rehab twice a day since the injury, aiming at a November return, knowing he could potentially help Ole Miss' offense regain its early-season stride.

"It's just a blessing to be back," Mingo said. "Being out there with my guys, it felt good in the first half."

For Mingo, Thursday's game is a reunion with one of his best friends, Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers. The duo played together at Brandon (Miss.) High School and remain in almost daily contact.

"It's going to be fun going against my guy," Mingo said. "He works hard. He's like my best friend. We talk every day. Before every game, we wish each other good luck. It's going to be fun competing against him this week."

Ole Miss running back Snoop Conner said Monday he didn't grow up watching college football, so his first experience with the Egg Bowl was the 2019 game in Starkville.

"It was hostile," Conner said. "It was physical and it was intense. It's going to be a tough game."

Conner enters Saturday's game with 556 yards and 11 touchdowns on 106 carries, leading the Rebels to the cusp of something special. That isn't lost on Conner, he said.

"We want to win the Egg Bowl and bring the egg back here," Conner said. "And we want to get to a New Year's Six bowl, possibly the Sugar Bowl, so we want to do both."

Conner said the Rebels' trip to raucous Neyland Stadium earlier this year should help them be prepared for what they'll encounter at Mississippi State.

"Tennessee was very loud, probably one of the loudest stadiums we played in, so I don't think the cowbells will affect us too much," Conner said, noting that Ole Miss practiced all day Monday with cowbells ringing on the speakers lining the practice fields. "It's going to be way louder (Thursday), constantly going. You just have to block out the noise and keep playing."

Rogers has passed 572 times this season. For Ole Miss' KD Hill, that means he better be ready to rush the quarterback all night.

"Whatever helps the team win, just be consistent," Hill said, when asked what he thinks about going against such a pass-happy offense. "I just revert back to my training."

Of course, the Bulldogs run some, too. Dillon Johnson has 397 yards rushing to lead Mississippi State.

Hill said it's a matter of being prepared.

"It's just watching film and basically revert back to your training," Hill said. "Trust your eyes."

For the second straight week, Ole Miss offensive lineman Caleb Warren has been named the SEC Co-Offensive Lineman of the Week, as announced Monday by the conference office.

Warren paved the way for 470 offensive yards in leading Ole Miss past Vanderbilt. He helped the Rebels average 5.0 yards per rush and protected Matt Corral for his fourth 300-yard passing game of the season.

The sophomore from Louisville, Mississippi, anchors an offensive line that blocks for a Rebel squad that ranks sixth in rushing offense (231.1 ypg), fifth in total offense (517.5 ypg) and fourth in first downs (295).