Arkansas coach Houston Nutt is hoping his team's two-game winning streak will carry over to Friday's season finale against third-ranked LSU.

"We're playing it like it's a bowl trip for us," Nutt said. "We're playing it for a trophy (the Golden Boot) and, to me, it's going to determine how far we've come since September."

The last two seasons, LSU has routed the Razorbacks by a combined score of 98-38. The Razorbacks hope to make a game of it, especially with their improved defense.

The Razorbacks are now 37th in total defense (345.9 yards per game) after being 111th (494 yards) in the wake of 70-17 loss to No. 1-ranked Southern California on Sept. 17 when the Trojans gained 736 yards.

"It is a testament for these kids and how far they've come," Arkansas defensive coordinator Reggie Herring said.

Tall Cotton

Alabama coach Mike Shula said his bowl focus is on winning the game, not preparing young players for next year. "Our No. 1 goal is to go win the game," Shula said. "Having 10 wins sounds pretty good for the season." It's likely that Alabama will end up in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2 against Texas Tech of the Big 12. ... LSU offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth has started a school record 49 straight games. Whitworth, a senior from West Monroe, La., started the first game of his redshirt freshman season at Virginia Tech in 2002 and has started every one since -- 13 in 2002, 14 in 2003, 12 in 2004 and 10 so far in 2005, with a chance for three more. Whitworth has never missed a practice at LSU. No LSU player in history has played in 50 games. ... Auburn jumped to its highest ranking of the year Sunday, at No. 9 in both The Associated Press and coaches' polls, after finishing No. 2 last season. The dream game Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville would like to see will never happen. "If you played last year's (13-0) team against this year's (9-2) team, it'd be a great game," Tuberville said.

The first Noel

The departure of Ole Miss offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone after Saturday's regular season finale may hurt recruiting. Mazzone got at least four of the team's 13 oral commitments for the 2006 signing class. He was also spearheading the recruiting of former Tennessee quarterback Brent Schaeffer, who is attending a junior college in California. Mazzone first recruited Schaeffer out of high school while at N.C. State. Ole Miss has to pay Mazzone the $500,000 he's owed on his contract. ... Mississippi State running back Jerious Norwood's 3-yard run with six minutes left in the third quarter in Saturday's loss to Arkansas put him over the 3,000-yard mark for his career. Norwood, MSU's all-time leading rusher, is the 22nd player in the SEC to surpass 3,000 yards. "I guess that's pretty good," he said.