OXFORD &045; Often imitated, never duplicated. Boys and girls of all ages, those enjoying their ABCs and others their AARP, boasted red and blue No. 10 Eli Manning jerseys as bodies shuffled through The Grove Saturday.

The stage was set for the quarterback from New Orleans, who came back for his senior year to win a conference championship, to steal the spotlight.

A Heisman Trophy, the Southeastern Conference West and an opportunity to possibly overwrite father Archie’s name in Rebel lore.

And he slipped.

More accurately, center Justin Sawyer, a Centreville Academy product, stepped on Manning’s foot on a fourth and 10 from the Ole Miss 32, preserving an ugly 17-14 LSU victory.

The Rebels (8-3, 6-1) could still win the West outright if they beat Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl Thursday and the Tigers (10-1, 6-1) lose to Arkansas Friday.

&uot;We did have opportunities, but we just didn’t capitalize on them,&uot; said Manning, who finished 16 of 36 for 200 yards with one touchdown and interception. &uot;(LSU is) a good defense. They were bringing pressure and we were trying to react to it and just didn’t make plays.&uot;

His counterpart, LSU’s Matt Mauck, did not fare much better. The dentist-to-be made up for three interceptions &045; one of which ex-Cathedral standout Von Hutchins snagged &045; with a 53-yard touchdown pass to Devery Henderson to put the Tigers up 17-7 as the fourth quarter opened.

&uot;It says a lot about (Mauck) that he continued to make plays,&uot; said receiver Michael Clayton, whose 9-yard touchdown pass from Mauck’s put LSU up 10-7 in the second quarter. &uot;He’s our leader. He’s our horse and we’re going to ride him like a saddle.&uot;

Mauck’s newfound glory was infectious, as Manning led a nine-play possession from his own 24, culminating in a 10-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Jacobs.

It was one of the few plays on the night where Manning displayed his intellect of backpedaling away from the LSU blitz and dumping it off to his back on a screen to Jacobs, who had clear sailing to the land of milk and honey.

&uot;We just started making plays. We were picking up protection and receivers were catching balls,&uot; Manning said. &uot;We started to pick up their blitzes and made adjustments.&uot;

The latter of two Jonathan Nichols’ missed field goals on the following possession prevented the Rebels from tying the score at 17, with 4 minutes, 15 seconds left in the game.

Ole Miss got the ball back with less than two minutes left with chapter and verse trying to write itself for a miracle drive to etch Manning’s name alongside his father’s.

But LSU forced Manning into three incompletions and then the misstep between center and quarterback.

&uot;We were trying to disguise our coverage,&uot; said LSU cornerback Travis Daniels, who had three tackles and played tight, questionable coverage on Rebel receivers. &uot;We didn’t want to let (Manning) get the quick read, because we knew he had the authority to check out of a play at any time.

&uot;He reminds me a lot of Dan Marino, the way he can call a play, read the defense and the check into another play.&uot;

Ole Miss struck first Saturday. After a 57-yard bomb from Rebel punter Cody Ridgeway that pinned LSU back at its own 7, Mauck received the opening down snap and ran a play-action where he started moving to his right.

Senior Jessie Mitchell applied the pressure up the middle and forced Mauck to hurry his intended pass for Clayton.

Travis Johnson telegraphed the throw, stepped in front and walked into paydirt, as blue pom-poms littered the crisp air like a gang of headbangers.

LSU responded with a 7 minute, 10 second drive to get on the scoreboard with a Chris Jackson 45-yard field goal to make it 7-3 with 6:44 in the first quarter.