OXFORD, Miss. — Maybe LSU can focus solely on football for a while.

The Tigers certainly hope so.

Because the first three weeks of “football” have been complicated by all kinds of non-football stuff. It all came to a climax Saturday night with a 32-24 loss to Ole Miss.

The game was preceded by a week-long buildup to Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin’s long-anticipated return to the place that he all but promised he’d never depart and then left less than 10 months ago as the Rebels team he built was heading to the CFP for the first time.

The battle between Kiffin’s current No. 7 team and his No. 8 former team was secondary to Kiffin’s return, just as the aftermath of LSU’s dominant 51-10 victory against Clemson two weeks earlier in its opener was complicated by the SEC’s flirtation with kicking the Tigers out of the conference because Kiffin was flirting with adding to his roster a couple of players who had gone to training camp with NFL teams before being released and enrolling at LSU.

The game Saturday was destined to be the most hyped game in recent memory as soon as the SEC released its schedule.

But the hype has been growing in recent weeks, partly because the two recruits in question that Kiffin brought in were former Rebels and partly because Ole Miss served another former Rebel, defensive end Princewill Umanmielen, with court papers related to the school’s lawsuit against him as the player was leaving the Tigers’ practice facility a few days ago.

Then LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt showed up on the Wednesday practice report out of the blue and was listed as doubtful before being upgraded to questionable on Thursday then removed from the list Friday and playing the entire game Saturday, all of which led to speculation that Kiffin was exaggerating if not fabricating any uncertainty about the quarterback’s availability.

Leavitt certainly played like a quarterback who was less than 100 percent as Ole Miss rolled to a 24-7 halftime lead, though he led a 17-0 second-half blitz before the Rebels took the lead back in the fourth quarter and the Tigers’ final drive ended when Leavitt was intercepted on a fourth-and-goal pass in the end zone in the final minute.

LSU shouldn’t fall more than a spot or two in the AP poll and it still controls its CFP hopes – if it can successfully navigate a remaining schedule that includes four teams that were ranked going into Saturday and games against Kentucky and Mississippi State that seem trickier than they did when the schedule was released.

That’s a lot of football that shouldn’t feature Kiffin complications – with the exception of the visit to Tennessee, where folks were no happier about Kiffin leaving after one season to coach USC than the folks in Oxford were about the coach leaving last December after six seasons.

But there is always time for new Kiffin stuff to develop along the way.

Manchester City fans on social media have called out Ruben Dias despite their 5-3 win over Sunderland on Sunday, September 20. The defender nearly scored an own goal and looked shaky in defence against Sunderland.

Enzo Fernandez gave the hosts an early lead after scoring a brilliant free kick from a difficult angle in the ninth minute. Three minutes later, Brian Brobbey finished from close range to level the scores.

Rayan Cherki produced a decent finish from inside the box to give Manchester City the lead in the 29th minute. Four minutes later, Brobbey scored to make the score 2-2.

In the 43rd minute, Antoine Semenyo rifled the ball into the back of the net to make the score 3-2, and Semenyo also extended the hosts’ lead before the hour mark. Brobbey went on to reduce Sunderland’s deficit, but another from Haaland sealed a 5-3 win for the hosts. Meanwhile, Dias’s performance was a subject of discussion after registering an abysmal shift in defense.

The defender failed to make a defensive interception, won three out of seven ground duels, and lost the ball four times (via Sofascore). Fans took to X to complain about Dias’s performance against Sunderland after the game, with one tweeting:

“Ruben Dias. Thank you. But it’s time to become an assistant coach.”

Other fans posted:

“It’s better to have three points more than less” – Enzo Maresca on Manchester City’s lead in the Premier League standings

Enzo Maresca revealed that it is better to be three points ahead of rival Premier League teams than to be three points behind in the title race. The Citizens manager added that it is too early to talk about the title race.

Maresca responded to a question regarding his side overtaking Arsenal in the Premier League standings following their 5-3 win over Sunderland. He said (via City Xtra on X):

“It’s better to have three points more than less – no doubt. But at the same time, we know that it’s quite early…”

Manchester City have registered a perfect start to their Premier League campaign after winning their first five games. The Citizens (15) are also three points ahead of second-placed Arsenal (12) in the standings.