Earlier this week, an email landed in the inbox of 28,000 students at the University of Mississippi. It was sent by Glenn Boyce, the chancellor of Ole Miss, and it served as a plea to football fans ahead of Saturday’s showdown against LSU.Boyce asked fans to arrive early to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, the Rebels’ 64,000-seater home, and cheer so loudly that the concrete cauldron ‘shakes.’ The chancellor also reminded students to respect visitors to campus. What Boyce didn’t mention? LSU or the Tigers’ head coach, Lane Kiffin.Kiffin won’t be given many column inches in the student newspaper, either. On gameday, half of the Daily Mississippian will be dedicated to LSU-Ole Miss but only one story is planned on the opposing head coach: a timeline of his career.Even one of Kiffin’s ex-players had little interest in discussing the 51-year-old. ‘Lane already has enough attention on him than I care to see or hear about,’ they told the Daily Mail this week.Come Saturday night, however, the circus will be impossible to ignore. Because Kiffin’s return to Ole Miss is one of the most toxic storylines of recent times. A game dripping with poison between two of the best teams in the nation. The latest, bitter chapter of a college football rivalry that dates back to 1894.For the uninitiated, a brief synopsis: Kiffin is one of the most polarizing coaches in sport. A man who appears equally happy on either side of the line separating fame and infamy. He has battled alcohol issues and divorce and, as detailed in a new book, stands accused of hitting college bars in search of ‘hotties’ under the pseudonym ‘Joey Freshwater.’ Lane Kiffin, who controversially left Ole Miss for LSU, returns to face his old team on Saturday At Ole Miss, Kiffin revived a program that has not won a national championship since 1962 In recent years, the controversial college coach has stopped drinking and taken up hot yogaThese days, Kiffin has quit booze and turned to hot yoga. But his appetite for chaos has remained – this week alone, the 51-year-old has been described as a ‘traitor,’ a coaching ‘savant’ and ‘malignant narcissist.’ Which brings us to Ole Miss. Back in 2019, Kiffin was appointed Rebels head coach and, over the next six seasons, he revived a program that has not won a national championship since 1962. Last season, he led Ole Miss to a first appearance in the College Football Playoffs, only to join LSU on the eve of the postseason in a deal worth $91 million. For fans in Oxford, that stung. But not as much as Kiffin’s efforts to gut the Ole Miss coaching and playing staff.It was, in many ways, par for the course in a career defined by scorched earth. It also ensured this game has been marked on the calendar for months.Few people know this rivalry better than John Fourcade, who grew up in Louisiana before playing quarterback for Ole Miss. This weekend, the 65-year-old is headed back to Oxford for what he believes could be the biggest occasion in Rebels football. ‘A wild experience… a whirlwind,’ he said. ‘I just hope it doesn’t get stupid.’There are fears that tempers will boil over into violent clashes; Kiffin has expressed safety fears and extra security has been called in. On one resale site, the cheapest ticket to the game is $520. Hotel rooms are going for up to $4,500 a night; several have been sold out since February. Some bars and restaurants are said to be charging $150 just to come inside or make a reservation.As many as 350,000 people are expected in Oxford, a town of just 26,000 people – not including students. Among those coming to town? The College GameDay crew, including special guest Morgan Freeman. ESPN will begin broadcasting on campus from 8am local time – kickstarting the party ten hours before kickoff. According to one Ole Miss grad, that has left a lot of people ‘on edge’ – there was already ‘hatred’ between LSU and Ole Miss fans, after all. Add in Kiffin’s return and a whole day of drinking and that could make for a volatile cocktail. Kiffin has won his opening two games since taking over as head coach of the LSU Tigers He celebrates with the Mississippi Rebel spirit squad following a win over the Florida Gators In 2021, on Kiffin’s return to Tennessee, mustard and golf balls rained down from the stands’It is going to be crazy… very hostile,’ the ex-student, who is attending the game, told the Daily Mail. ‘I really don’t think people care this weekend,’ he added.In recent days, officials have tried to turn down the tension. But after nearly a year of bubbling emotions, those efforts were compared by one observer to ‘trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube.’There is one small mercy for law enforcement: despite rumors that Donald Trump could be among the crowd, the president will be elsewhere. His arrival would have only ratcheted up the bedlam on a campus that is already known for the best tailgate in college football.Eventually, at 6.30pm local time on Saturday, a football game will kick off. Pete Golding – who served as Kiffin’s defensive coordinator before taking over as Ole Miss head coach – could set the town ablaze with a win.Kiffin has been here before. Back in 2021, he returned to Tennessee more than a decade after another acrimonious job swap. That night in Knoxville, bottles of mustard and golf balls rained down from the stands. Some Ole Miss fans have suggested Kiffin should be given a similar welcome to Oxford.Before Fourcade’s first game against LSU, a bottle of Jack Daniels was thrown from the crowd. ‘It almost hit me,’ he recalled. ‘I looked at the guy and said: “If you’re going to throw whiskey down here, at least make sure the bottle is full!”‘This year – so far at least – the pre-game skirmishes have not involved projectiles. Instead? In a playful attempt to prepare his team for the hostility, Kiffin hired frat bros to heckle LSU players at practice. On Tuesday, meanwhile, Tigers defensive end Princewill Umanmielen was served with court papers. On Tuesday, LSU defensive end Princewill Umanmielen was served with court papers Kiffin’s daughter, Landry, has even been targeted by fans in Oxford ahead of the gameHe is being sued by Ole Miss for breach of contract. Umanmielen also happens to be one of the big-name players who followed Kiffin to LSU. In Oxford, meanwhile, several giant banners have been hung out of windows. Many belong to Ole Miss fraternities; some include vile slurs about Kiffin’s daughter, Landry.She is still a student at Ole Miss but is now dating LSU linebacker Whit Weeks. On TikTok on Wednesday night, she called the banners ‘upsetting’ and ‘vulgar.’Around the same time, the Lyric theater in Oxford hosted a comedy event, intentionally mistitled: ‘The Roast of Lane Kiffen.’ The LSU coach was invited but he chose not to listen to jokes about his divorce and his alleged alter-ego, Joey Freshwater. Organizers put dart boards on cardboard cut-outs of the Tigers head coach. According to the Clarion Ledger, even the urinal cakes carried Kiffin’s face.On Saturday, the Lyric is being taken over by LSU fans. Just across the street is The Library, perhaps Oxford’s rowdiest sports bar.Kiffin arrives under no illusions that ‘hatred’ awaits. The last time he was in Oxford, the 51-year-old boarded a jet to LSU. Many Ole Miss fans turned up to the airport, too, showering him with boos and abuse.If those smoldering emotions had begun to peter out by May, Kiffin then lit the flame once more. In an interview with Vanity Fair, he dug up Mississippi’s dark past by claiming some Black families were reluctant to send their kids to Ole Miss. That sparked more rage. Landry Kiffin is still a student at Ole Miss but she is now dating LSU linebacker Whit WeeksAnd then this week, a new book, Lane Being Lane, was published. Among the spicy claims? Kiffin hired a crisis PR specialist who has worked with the likes of Jeffrey Epstein.But no spin doctor can help on Saturday night when, after all the mudslinging and months of anticipation, Ole Miss and LSU finally collide. For either team, victory would taste awfully sweet. But whatever happens, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Oxford is offering fans an escape from bitterness and bad blood. ‘Love thy enemies – including LSU,’ a flyer read downtown. ‘It’s hard to practice love and forgiveness. It’s even harder to do it alone.’ Holy Eucharist begins at 7:30 on Sunday morning.