OXFORD — No. 15 Ole Miss will play its eighth game in the last eight weeks on Saturday.

The Rebels are tired. They’re beaten down physically and mentally. There’s no denying that.

Still, football is a game that is supposed to be fun, and that’s something that has been a talking point this week as the Rebels (7-1 overall, 3-1 in the Southeastern Conference) prepare for Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network) date at Texas A&M (3-4, 1-3).

“We’re trying to get back to that defense that is having fun and not taking it as a drag,” Ole Miss cornerback Deantre Prince said Tuesday. “Everybody at this point of the season, their bodies are starting to wear down and we’re just trying to get back to that having fun stage and execute better.”

Ole Miss is coming off a 45-20 loss at LSU, one that saw the Rebels outscored 42-3 in the final three quarters.

“You have to be mentally strong,” Prince said. “I feel like the bye week is basically getting your body back. I feel like we’re good but we’re not 100 percent like we could be.”

Ole Miss gets a weekend off after the trip to College Station. The Rebels have three games in November — a home date with Alabama on Nov. 12, a trip to Arkansas on Nov. 19 and the regular season finale on Thanksgiving night against Mississippi State in Oxford.

“When we focus on the fine details all around, we’re a really good defense,” Ole Miss defensive end Tavius Robinson said. “Sometimes you need that to lock back in.”

With a win over Texas A&M, the Rebels will basically control their own destiny in the SEC West. A loss would be a tough pill to swallow going into an open date with the sixth-ranked Crimson Tide looming.

“We have to execute better when times get tough,” Ole Miss wide receiver Jordan Watkins said. “The environment is going to be crazy. We just have to respond and play our game.”

Ole Miss led at LSU, 20-17, at halftime, and was driving to take the lead late in the third quarter when the wheels came off.

“It was 18-19 minutes of bad football as a whole,” Watkins said. “Both units played really bad football in that timeframe.

“There’s definitely not a concern. We know what we have on offense and the weapons that we have. We know we can go out and play with anybody in the country.”