Scott Rabalais: Three things we learned from Lane Kiffin's Louisiana Tech week news conference

LSU coach Lane Kiffin and Clemson coach Dabo Swinney meet at midfield following the game on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026 in Tiger Stadium. Sports columnist Scott Rabalais with his three takeaways from LSU coach Lane Kiffin's news conference Monday to start Louisiana Tech week. The game is at 6:30 p.m. Saturday on SECNetwork+ in Tiger Stadium: Lane Kiffin wants his players to bring the same intensity and focus for Louisiana Tech they had in the 51-10 season-opening rout of Clemson. He challenged LSU fans to do likewise. 'Everything's got to be the same as last Saturday,' Kiffin said. 'Don't let the opponent dictate how you're preparing. If you've got to have a mock Saturday, pretend the 'College GameDay' stage is here, whatever it is. Start drinking at 7 a.m. – whatever you did, do it again.' Louisiana Tech rolled up a program record 80 points on 10 touchdowns Saturday to crush Northwestern State 80-6, definitely catching Kiffin's attention. 'Any time you score 80 points you're doing a lot of things right on offense,' he said. 'They're really well coached.' Kiffin also took note of the Bulldogs' aggressive 3-3-5 defense, which allowed just 129 total yards and seven first downs. 'They're really different on defense,' Kiffin said. 'It creates a lot of challenges.' To Kiffin, a successful game goes beyond the score. 'It's like a performance,' he said. 'Like a concert. It's important in terms of branding, the style of your program and obviously recruiting to have days like that. I'm sure kids around the country were watching and said, 'I want to go there.' ' Perhaps kids in the stadium, too, like Brother Martin's Easton Royal, the nation's No. 1-rated wide receiver who is a long-time Texas commitment. For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter