For Mississippi State fans, there is no growing  pain experienced this season under first year head coach Jeff Lebby that can’t be soothed with a win on Friday in Oxford in an Egg Bowl matchup against Ole Miss.

The Bulldogs are 2-9 and have had to start true freshman Michael Van Buren Jr. at quarterback for much of the year after an injury to transfer Blake Shapen.

Ole Miss came into the game ranked 12th last year and survived 17-7 in Starkville. The Bulldogs won the last game played in Oxford, a 24-22 result for MSU that came with the Rebels ranked 20th.

This time, Ole Miss is ranked 16th after dropping to 8-3 on the season last week with a shocking 24-17 loss at Florida.

The Rebels got outcoached and outplayed in a game that cost them a shot at making the NCAA 12-team playoff.

Can they regroup and focus on winning a rivalry game against Mississippi State and likely earn a spot in the ReliaQuest Bowl with an expensive roster of transfers and playmakers that lost league games to Kentucky, LSU, and Florida?

The game has been moved from its spot on Thanksgiving Day to your favorite shopper’s day of the year, Black Friday.

Kickoff in Oxford is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. with the game being broadcast on ABC.

Ole Miss is around a 25-point favorite in this one on the betting market. The Bulldogs are coming off a 39-20 loss at home to Missouri.

Former Copiah-Lincoln CC standout Johnnie Daniels has been a bright spot for the Bulldogs, appearing in 10 games and rushing 102 times for 530 yards and four touchdowns in his first season in Starkville.

True freshman running back Xavier Gayten, a Brookhaven High alum, has rushed eight times for 115 yards and one score, including a memorable 72-yard sprint to the endzone against UMass earlier this month.

The Bulldogs also have two other area alums on their roster in senior offensive lineman Grant Jackson (West Lincoln) and redshirt offensive lineman Amari Smith (Brookhaven High).