Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin dismisses report that he's leaving Friday to join rival Auburn

Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin is reportedly leaving the school on Friday to take the job at SEC rival Auburn, that is, unless you ask Lane Kiffin.

Mississippi CBS affiliate sports anchor Jon Sokoloff reported Monday that the well-travelled head coach would be making another change to his resume by leaving Ole Miss on Friday, ahead of Saturday's game against rival Mississippi State, only to have Kiffin correct him on Twitter.

'BREAKING: #OleMiss HC Lane Kiffin plans to step down as the Rebels coach Friday and head to Auburn to become the Tigers next head coach, according to sources,' Sokoloff tweeted. 'Sources say the Tigers haven't officially offered the job to anyone yet. So Lane to Auburn is happening. Story soon.'

Kiffin, an active Twitter user, did not hesitate to respond.

'That's news to me Jon,' Kiffin tweeted. 'Nice sources.'

Kiffin, the son of late NFL defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, has previously coached at Florida Atlantic, USC, Tennessee and with the Oakland Raiders, so Sokoloff's report struck many as believable.

And to be fair to Sokoloff, Kiffin has not specifically denied the claim that he will be leaving the school for Auburn.

Instead, Kiffin piled on, joking that Sokoloff was stepping down from WCBI News in Starkville, Mississippi to take over at a rival station.

'So Jon to WLOX is happening,' read the text of a photograph Kiffin posted on Twitter. 'Story soon.'

One Twitter user responded to Kiffin by posting a clip of then-Miami Dolphins coach Nick Saban telling reporters 'I'm not going to be the Alabama coach' less than a month before accepting the Crimson Tide job in January of 2007.

The Rebels (8-3, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) head into the rivalry game known as the Egg Bowl having lost three of their past four. Similarly, the Bulldogs (7-4, 3-4) have dropped three of their last five games. 

'It seems like there's not a lot of love in the relationship, I guess is the positive, nice way of putting it,' Kiffin said of the rivalry. 'It means a lot to a lot of people. We've been fortunate to turn it back our direction the last couple of years and trying to keep it that way.'

Kiffin and Mississippi State coach Mike Leach are both in their third seasons. The Rebels won 31-24 two years ago and 31-21 last season.

'I think we've come a long ways with the program,' Kiffin said. 'I think we've turned over the roster, improved the roster. Obviously improved on-field production and made the program a lot more visible nationally to recruit to than where it was when we got here.'

Ole Miss took a 42-27 loss at Arkansas last Saturday.

Many of the Bulldogs, including record-setting junior quarterback Will Rogers, have yet to experience a victory in the rivalry game.

'It would mean everything,' Rogers said of winning Thursday. 'That's all I'm really worried about right now. Coach Kiffin has done a great job of getting their guys ready to play and getting them excited, so I know they will be ready to play.

'We have to answer the call and we have to be ready to go Thursday night.'

Leach has emphasized to his players the importance of avoiding getting caught up in the rivalry.

'The biggest thing is focusing on doing the best you can and being the best team that you can be and leave it at that,' Leach said. 'Otherwise, if you distract yourself with a bunch of other stuff, you're not going to help your approach or help what you're trying to do.

'You just go out there, lock in, try to improve and try to get better this week to be the best team that you can be.'

But the players from Mississippi on both teams understand the importance of the game.

'This is the game that everybody thinks about every year,' said Rogers, who is from Brandon, Miss. 'It doesn't matter where we play it or who is ranked higher or what the records are. It's the biggest game of the year, every year.'