Lane Kiffin jokes about timeliness of Chris Rodriguez's return vs Ole Miss

Speaking on the “Paul Finebaum Show” on Friday afternoon ahead of a matchup with Kentucky, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin couldn’t help himself with a quip about Wildcats running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. getting back from a suspension this week.

The running back had been suspended for the start of the season and also dealing with an eligibility issue. It was announced in September that Rodriguez would be back for Kentucky’s trip to Ole Miss and Kiffin joked about facing the newly-stocked Wildcats offense.

“They have their running back coming back, as you know. Who’s going to be fresh. Fresh, right in time for our game. Very timely suspension,” Kiffin said, eliciting a chuckle from Finebaum. “So we’ll get them at their best.”

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“He did miss the Florida game,” Finebaum said.

“Maybe they weren’t as worried about Florida or something,” Kiffin said.

“That’s what we wanted,” Finebaum said, chortling and knowing as well as anybody how Kiffin’s riff would play.

On top of Rodriguez, Ole Miss will need to account for Will Levis, the star Kentucky quarterback. Humor aside, Kiffin knows the Kentucky offense will present a heightened challenge for his defense.

“Yeah it is. You need to pressure him. And this is a really talented, really good quarterback. So we’re going to have to cover really well and get on him,” Kiffin said.

The Rebels have to play a complete, good game, despite being 4-0. They’ve had good halves and quarters, according to Kiffin, but not a full 60 minutes. In a Top 15 matchup at noon ET on Saturday, Ole Miss will finally need to put together that complete game to best the also-unbeaten Wildcats.

“Put it together versus a really good team that has a lot of really good players and has been coached well for a long time,” Kiffin said.