LSU at Ole Miss, Lane Kiffin return set for Week 3

Lane Kiffin will make his return to The Grove early in the 2026 season. LSU will travel to Ole Miss in Week 3 for a Sept. 19 matchup at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

The SEC announced its full 2026 schedule on Thursday night. That game between Ole Miss and LSU will also mark the first conference game of the year for both teams.

Kiffin left Ole Miss for LSU after the 2025 regular season even though the Rebels were in position for the College Football Playoff. Pete Golding took over as the full-time head coach, meaning he will be on the other sideline when Kiffin heads back to Oxford.

Kiffin’s departure became one of the biggest stories in college football considering Ole Miss’ postseason hopes. The Rebels won 11 games during the regular season for the first time in program history, and they will host a first-round game in the CFP when Tulane comes to town next week.

During his introductory press conference at LSU, Kiffin pointed to the college football calendar as one of the reasons it was such a challenging decision to leave Ole Miss. He also said he didn’t see a different way to handle it that would have made the situation easier, given the necessary timing with National Signing Day just days after his hiring.

“Obviously, the last 48 hours, in a lot of ways, sucked,” Kiffin said during the Dec. 1 press conference. “The only way I can describe it, (is that) it sucked for a lot of people. There was no way to possibly do it, in my opinion, any better than we did (from a) timing standpoint, because it’s a bad scheduling system of how it’s set up.

“Eventually, hopefully it gets like the NFL where can’t do that in the season and don’t have to make those decisions. But in that, it was very important and very critical. Verge (Ausberry) and his team had a really, really good (NIL) plan, and even talked to some donors that are part of that plan here, to see exactly; How does that work? And there’s a great plan here.”

Lane Kiffin will begin his tenure at LSU with a Week 1 matchup against Clemson. It will mark the return game in the series, which saw LSU get a victory this year over Clemson to kick off the 2025 campaign. Kickoff times will be announced at a later date.