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its longtime goal of returning to the Rose

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Leonard Fournette broke LSUs single-game rushing record on just his first eight carries -- scoring three touchdowns of 59 yards or more -- and the 25th-ranked Tigers beat No. 23 Mississippi 38-21 on Saturday night.Fournette finished with 284 yards rushing in his first action since aggravating a left ankle injury on Sept. 24. The speed and force with which he carried the ball left little doubt about how good he feels now. His touchdowns went for 78, 76 and 59 yards. He averaged 17.8 yards on 16 carries. Fournette broke Alley Broussards LSU record of 250 yards rushing (on 26 carries) in 2004, also against Ole Miss.The victory puts LSU (5-2, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) at 3-0 under interim coach Ed Orgeron, who replaced Les Miles when the Tigers were 2-2.Since Orgeron took over and promoted Steve Ensminger to offensive coordinator, the Tigers have demonstrated a penchant for big plays. They had four TDs of 40 or more yards against the Rebels, including Danny Etlings 40-yard pass to D.J. Chark.LSU finished with 515 total yards against Ole Miss (3-4, 1-3), which saw its chances of getting back into the SEC West race take a huge hit.Chad Kelly, who came in averaging an SEC-best 308.2 yards passing, was intercepted twice and sacked twice. He finished 19 of 32 for 209 yards and one touchdown. Kelly capped Ole Miss opening drive with a 15-yard scoring pass to Van Jefferson, and the Rebels briefly led 10-0 before Fournette came rumbling through the right side of LSUs offensive line for his 59-yard score.Fournettes 76-yard run put the Tigers up 21-13, but Marquis Haynes sack and strip of Etling gave Ole Miss the ball on the LSU nine. Three plays later, the Rebels tied it at 21 when Akeem Judd scored from 2 yards out and Ole Miss added a 2-point conversion on Kellys keeper.But Fournettes 78-yarder, which gave him 249 yards on his first seven carries, put the Tigers up for good. Derrius Guice iced it with a 6-yard TD.THE TAKEAWAYLSU: Fournette certainly made up for lost time. His performance puts him right back in Heisman Trophy consideration. To stay there, hell have to keep it up against Alabama, which held him to 31 yards on 19 carries last season in Tuscaloosa.POLL IMPLICATIONSLSU, which just got back into the AP Top 25 poll last week, should continue to move up. Ole Miss, which was the only three-loss team in the poll, is unlikely to remain ranked.UP NEXTMississippi: The Rebels hosts surging Auburn next Saturday.LSU: The Tigers get next weekend off before hosting the top-ranked Crimson Tide in what could be a pivotal game in both teams seasons. Washington State is bowl-eligible for the third time in coach Mike Leachs five years at the helm, but its no longer a big deal for the No. 25 Cougars.Right now were 0-0 and weve got to win this week against Arizona, linebacker Isaac Dotson said.How soon people forget that Washington State went a decade without playing in a bowl game prior to Leachs arrival.I thought wed go to a bowl game every year here, Leach said.After all, his teams at Texas Tech never had a losing season and never missed a bowl game.But Washington State, which plays in the rugged Pac-12, has not normally taken bowl games for granted. The Cougars have gone to only 12 in their history.Quarterback Luke Falk said routinely qualifying for bowl games is part of a culture change that current players wanted to bring to Washington State.Is it cool to go to back-to-back bowls? Falk said. Yeah, we celebrated Sunday morning.But then their attention turned to Saturdays game against Arizona, said Falk, who also dismissed reports that he intends to enter the NFL draft after this season. If I had to make a decision right now, Id say Im definitely staying, said Falk, a junior.For a time last weekend it looked like Washington State wasnt going to qualify for a bowl this soon. The Cougars fell behind 24-6 in the first half at downtrodden Oregon State.The Cougars came back to win 35-31, behind 415 passing yards and five touchdownns by Falk.ddddddddddddThey just played harder than we did, Falk said. We needed to get hit in the face, smacked in the mouth, to wake us up.Washington State (6-2, 5-0) won its sixth game in a row and remained even with No. 4 Washington (8-0, 5-0) as the only teams to go unbeaten in Pac-12 play so far. They play on Nov. 25 in Pullman.The comeback win lifted the Cougars into the Top 25 for the first time this season.It doesnt change our goal at all, Falk said. Were all about trying to improve.Washington State last appeared in the poll in 2015, when the Cougars entered the rankings in Week 11 following a road win at UCLA, and stayed in the Top 25 for two weeks.The Cougars have beaten one ranked team this year, then-No. 15 Stanford. Still left to play are No. 21 Colorado in Boulder in three weeks and the rival Huskies.Receiver Robert Lewis said theres little chance the Cougars will get over-confident despite this spate of success. The players remember their opening two games of the season, when they were upset at home by FCS Eastern Washington and then lost at No. 24 Boise State.Lewis said the team remains focused on its longtime goal of returning to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 2002.That was the plan, Lewis said. To see it within reach is great. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '

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