Lane Kiffin gratefully attributed his winning philosophy to mentor Nick Saban

Lane Kiffin did more than just overhaul the Ole Miss roster; he enriched the very foundational philosophy to build a winning team over the years. It is a reason why the Rebels are going 7-1 strong entering Week 9 of college football season.

The Ole Miss football head coach has just one person to credit for teaching him that foundation: his mentor Nick Saban.

Ole Miss's 34-26 victory over Oklahoma put them in a sweet spot to be a top college football playoff contender. But when asked about it in his post-game press conference, Kiffin emphasized how his team's focus has never been the playoffs.

In fact, he refuses to even speak that language.

"I don’t think so. Just because that’s not even our language. Whether it’s right or wrong, I don’t talk to them like about that and playoffs and where you’re ranked and any of that stuff, I just don’t. That’s just my philosophy," Kiffin said.

The reason is a core learning he carries from his time in Tuscaloosa under Saban.

"Never have — actually I did when I was younger and it’s been a lot of years now. I don’t talk to them that way because it’s just about staying in the process. And, you know, that probably was (a result of) going to coach for those three years for Coach Saban in learning that."

"You get caught up in all that noise, and he says ‘rat poison’ versus just none of that matters. What matters is getting better in these individual areas so that you finish off games like this."

The idea of taking it one game at a time seems to be working out perfectly for the Rebels. So far, they have a significantly improved defense from what it was at the beginning of the season, and an established offense that most other teams would be concerned facing against.

The same philosophy of not chasing the rankings have helped the Rebels climb up the ladder, and stay there, better than most other teams.

Their win against Oklahoma is expected to put them back among the Top 5, maybe even Top 3, from their current No. 8 ranking, in the Week 10 AP Poll.

And probably a top seeding entering the college football playoffs too, as this win all but punched a ticket for it.