OXFORD, Miss. — Barring an injury, Brent Schaeffer will indeed be Ole Miss' starting quarterback when the Rebels open the 2006 season Sept. 3 at home against Memphis.

Schaeffer said Monday morning that he learned over the weekend he has passed all of his courses necessary to graduate from the College of the Sequoias, the California junior college he was attending. That means Schaeffer, who will be a junior, will be eligible to play for Ole Miss this fall.

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"We're excited about having Brent here," said first-year offensive coordinator Dan Werner. "When I got hired, one of the things I wanted to do was have Brent here."

In order to play for Ole Miss, Schaeffer had to graduate. That required him to take a heavy course load his final semester.

''I had my work cut out for me, but I grinded it out,'' said Schaeffer, who did not specify what his workload included.

With that behind him, Schaeffer, Ole Miss' top recruit in a nationally ranked class this year, can turn his attention to returning to the Southeastern Conference. He began his career at Tennessee and played as a true freshman before suffering a season-ending injury. After an off-season suspension that stemmed from an arrest for misdemeanor assault, Schaeffer transferred to the College of the Sequoias.

Last year, he threw for 2,940 yards with 40 touchdowns and just six interceptions, while also rushing for 854 yards and 12 TDs and broke 11 school records. Schaeffer chose Ole Miss over N.C. State and Wisconsin.

In addition to his heavy course load, Schaeffer was busy studying his Ole Miss playbook. He had constant contact with Werner, who will run a pro-style offense.

Schaeffer is coming from an offense that had him doing a little bit of everything. The native Deerfield of Beach, Fla., said he is looking forward to displaying his talents in Oxford.

''It seems like a pretty good offense,'' he said. ''There was just some different terminologies, but it's not the first college playbook I'm having to look at.''

On signing day in February, Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron proclaimed Schaeffer as his starting quarterback, thinking that highly of the player who was one of the top high school quarterbacks in the country before signing with Tennessee.

During his freshman season with the Vols, Schaeffer excited fans in the 2004 opener, completing 7-of-10 passes for 123 yards and rushing for 29 more while splitting time with Erik Ainge. Schaeffer finished the season completing 18-of-37 passes for 302 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

Schaeffer said he will likely be in Oxford later this week and enroll in the second session of summer school, which begins July 3.

"We knew he was going to be here," Werner said. "It was just a matter of when. We just wanted to get him here as soon as possible so he could get here and work out with our guys."