When did it sink in for you?

Was it when a kid from Louisiana named Dak crossed the goal line for his fifth touchdown of the day to a chorus of cowbells that would make Will Ferrell jealous? Was it when Senquez Golson snatched that Blake Sims pass out of the air and delicately tapped his feet in the end zone to take down the mighty Tide?

Did you realize it when you saw the Sigma Chis, shirts stained with whiskey and dirt, drunkenly hoisting the downed goalposts of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium through The Grove? Or was it when you simply had a moment to yourself on the couch to sit and ponder the greatest sports weekend in Mississippi history?

Whenever it was, consider yourself lucky. You have witnessed something more rare than a Nick Saban smile.

For one day, Mississippi was front-page news for something other than its vitriolic past. And when the dust finally settled on the craziest weekend in the history of college football, the Magnolia State’s two SEC schools sat together — sharing, like good southerners would, of course — as the nation’s third best teams.

I would pinch myself, but with the way things are going for us Mississippians right now I might strike oil. If you don’t believe it, just pull up the AP Top 25 and rub the crust out of your eyes and there you’ll see it:

T-3. Mississippi State.

T-3. Ole Miss.

The Bulldogs received two first place votes.

The schools with modern-day losses to Jacksonville State and Maine are tied for third-best in the United States and both control their own destiny in the loaded SEC West, where you don’t so much win as you do survive. While traditional powers like Tennessee, Florida and LSU cling to dear life and hope to not fall completely off the tracks, Ole Miss and Mississippi State are driving the train. What is happening?

ESPN’s “College GameDay,” which just spent last weekend in Oxford making sure Katy Perry didn’t die, will shimmy down to Starkville Saturday when the Dawgs take on No. 2 Auburn at Davis Wade Stadium. When it’s all said and done, “GameDay” will have spent more time in Mississippi than General Grant, and Corso and crew could be back once more in November for what is sure to be the most electric Egg Bowl since they started keeping score.

Mississippi State demolished a Texas A&M team that boasts the best offense in the SEC. Ole Miss disposed of Alabama and sent the Paul Finebaum Show into a bigger meltdown than when Hannah Montana became Miley Cyrus.

Wherever you were on that fateful Saturday will always be remembered. And the best part about it is we get to relive the excitement all over again this Saturday.

Are you ready?

Hail yeah.

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Cory Gunkel is a reporter. He can be reached at 601-636-4545, Ext. 178 or by email at cory.gunkel@vicksburgpost.com