Fayetteville, AR (U-WIRE) -- Arkansas coach Houston Nutt has thrived in the month of November during his first six seasons in Fayetteville. Now in his seventh year at the helm, Nutt appears to have his Hogs ready to make another late-season run as they travel to Starkville, Miss., tomorrow for their final road test of the year against an improving Mississippi State team.

Coming off a 35-3 win last week against Ole Miss, the Hogs (4-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) are still in position to reach the postseason after snapping a four-game losing skid and posting their most convincing victory of the year against the Rebels. The lopsided victory was the first win for the Hogs since they beat Alabama 27-10 back on Sept. 25th.

The Bulldogs (3-6, 2-4 SEC), on the other hand, have had two weeks to recuperate after a 30-14 loss to the Crimson Tide. The loss ended a two-game winning streak for MSU that came on the heels of five straight losses suffered early in the season. One of those back-to-back victories was a 38-31 win against Florida, in which MSU junior running back Jerious Norwood scorched the Gators for 174 yards and two touchdowns. In only the last four games, Norwood has piled up 636 yards on the ground and comes into contest Saturday needing only 83 yards to eclipse the 1000-yard mark.

"[Norwood] is very fast, a lot like [former Razorback] Fred Talley," Nutt said.

"He's fast, has quick feet and can beat you in wide-open space, so we've got to make sure those gaps are covered up."

Norwood won't be the only running threat Nutt will have to worry about Saturday. Tailback Fred Reid and scrambling quarterback Omar Conner have also powered the Bulldogs' revamped running attack. Reid has rushed for a combined 163 yards and one touchdown on only 22 totes in the last three games, including a 109-yard day against Kentucky in which he averaged 9.9 yards a carry. Conner has chipped-in with 109 yards and a score over the same span.

Nutt gave praise to the Bulldogs' offensive turnaround and said stopping the run was a key focus this week in practice.

"They're playing with a lot of confidence and they're doing a good job of moving the ball," Nutt said. "Those two tailbacks are very scary and we spent a lot of time on their inside runs. The thing that they've done such a good job of is being able to get those guys free into some running lanes."

Stopping the MSU ground game will be crucial for the Hogs, who outscore the Bulldogs by nearly 16 points per game. The run-happy Bulldogs average only 136.3 yards per game through the air, second-worst in the Southeastern Conference, while also having thrown the league's second-most interceptions with 12.

First-year MSU coach Sylvester Croom said his team must continue to play the hard-nosed brand of football they've bought into over the past three games, and hopes the week off helped eliminate the mental lapses that have plagued the Bulldogs this season.

"I think we have established, during this last half of the season, that we will play hard and that we do play a very physical brand of football," Croom said. "What we have not established is that we play smart football and disciplined football at all times. We hopefully got that done during the off week."

Croom will also have to hope for a good day from his defense, which will face an equally improving Arkansas rushing attack. While without a true go-to-guy like Norwood, the Hogs have managed to steadily improve their rushing numbers with a committee of ball-carriers, including running backs De'Arrius Howard, DeCori Birmingham and Peyton Hillis along with run-and-gun signal caller Matt Jones. Last week against the Rebels, Hillis made his biggest impact since returning from a back injury Oct. 23rd against Georgia, rushing 18 times for 64 yards and a touchdown with many of those runs converting short-yardage situations. His one-yard touchdown run last Saturday marked the first score for Hillis since his two-touchdown performance against Alabama, and was his sixth scoring run of the year.

"It was a real good feeling [to get in the end zone]," Hillis said. "It's been a while since I could get on the field and play to my full potential so it was a pretty good deal."

Hillis, a true freshman, said the Razorbacks' ground game has been a work-in-progress this season with a stable of new players, but credits the effort off the offense off the field to its recent success on it.

"Every week we've been getting better," Hillis said. "The offensive line and the backs have been meeting every week for film and [they] have been learning the offensive line's spots and they've been learning our spots, so it's becoming easier to comprehend and I think that's why we're doing better."

Nutt echoed a similar sentiment, citing a combination of improvement from the offensive line and greater effort from the backs as the reason behind the turnaround.

"[The offensive line] has done a good job getting some guys on the ground, blocking well, staying with their blocks, knowing who to block and feeling more comfortable," Nutt said. "I feel like the backs are running harder too, and we've go to do that."

The greatest fear for Croom and the Bulldogs likely won't be lined up at running back, but rather under center or in the shotgun. Jones, the all-time leading rusher in the SEC at the quarterback position, is coming off one of his most dominating performances in a Razorback jersey as he ran wild against the Rebels for 126 yards and a touchdown on only five carries. His lone scoring run came on an option keeper that went for a career-long 72 yards. Jones also left the game early in the third quarter with a slightly pulled hamstring that won't be much of a factor this week according to Nutt.

Croom said it is impossible to stop Jones, but hopes his defense does enough to contain him.

"[Jones] is an outstanding athlete and we are going to have to be very disciplined in defending all aspects of their option game," Croom said. "We make no secrets about it. Anybody who has played them has tried to stop Matt Jones, which I don't think you can totally do because he is such a phenomenal athlete. I think we can do some things to slow him down."

Both teams go into tomorrow's game healthier than they have been in weeks, according to both coaches. The Hogs will need all their parts as they look to establish their first winning streak since September and notch their first road victory of the year tomorrow against the Bulldogs. The non-televised game kicks off at 1:30 p.m.

(C) 2004 Arkansas Traveler via U-WIRE