The challenging portion of the 2013 schedule continues for the Ole Miss football team.

Already riding a three-game losing streak, Ole Miss (3-3, 1-3 Southeastern Conference) will take on another top-25 opponent at 6 p.m. Saturday (ESPN2) when it plays host to No. 6 LSU (6-1, 3-1).

“A difficult stretch we’ve had,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said. “We’ve gotten beaten by the No. 1 team, No. 6 team, No. 24 team, and we have another top-10 team coming in this week. It’s been arguably the toughest stretch of games I can recall seeing since 2006. I think we played six national champions in that stretch. It’s been a great challenge. It’s been one where we’ve learned quite a bit about ourselves. I continue to be extremely proud of the way our kids compete and prepare.”

Ole Miss won its first three games for the first time since 1989. The Rebels climbed as high as No. 21 in the national rankings thanks in part to two road victories. The struggles began after that when Ole Miss managed only two offensive touchdowns in road losses to Alabama and Auburn.

Back home for the first time since the second week of the season, Ole Miss lost to 41-38 heartbreaker to then-No. 9 Texas A&M Saturday night. Ole Miss held a seven-point lead and possession in the fourth quarter, but the Aggies won on a Josh Lambo 33-yard field goal as time expired.

“People are still excited,” Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace said. “We talked about not losing sight of our goals after the game. Everybody knows we have a tough week, so it is just a matter of coming in here and working hard and getting ready for it.

“If you look at our schedule, we have been beaten by teams with one loss or no losses. It is a tough schedule. You can’t let up because this is another big game.”

Ole Miss solved some of its offensive issues against Texas A&M. However, the Rebels’ defense failed for a second-straight year to contain quarterback Johnny Manziel.

“Confidence is a very important thing,” Freeze said. “Being a coach at any level, your teams are going to be better if they have confidence. Yesterday was pretty good. I know our coaches and how we’ll handle it. In talking to coach (Paul) Jackson (Monday) morning, he was pleased with the attitudes they had in workouts yesterday. I just keep coming back to the experience I’ve had with these kids. They will bounce back and will fight. That gives me confidence to walk out there tomorrow with the same swagger we hope to have every Saturday.”

Texas A&M racked up 587 yards and 33 first downs — the most allowed by Ole Miss this season. On Saturday, the defensive challenge will be a similar against quarterback Zach Mettenberger and the Tigers.

“(Mettenberger) is good, and he was good in our game last year (a 41-35 LSU win), but he has improved,” Freeze said. “The offensive mentality has changed a bit. They’re playing to their strengths of winning one-on-one matchups to the outside. You have to load the box to stop the run.

“Mettenberger isn’t missing many open receivers when he has them. He’s making very, very good throws and managing the game extremely well. He’s one of the better guys we’ve faced this year. On the Johnny (Manziel) front, he’s as good as I’ve ever seen. Dave (Wommack) has been in the game a long time. He’s very, very difficult to defend and prepare for.”

LSU is averaging better than 40 points per game. It will come to Oxford off its best defensive effort of the season, a 17-6 victory against Florida in Baton Rouge, La.

Ole Miss will face LSU without several key players on defense.

“Everybody knows we are going to have some really key people (on defense) out,” Wallace said. “As an offense, you have to take that as a challenge. We know we are going to have to score some points.”

Freshman defensive end Robert Nkemdiche is out with a hamstring injury. Junior linebacker Serderius Bryant suffered a concussion and left the Texas A&M game on a cart. Bryant is expected to undergo concussion tests later in the week and may be available for the game against LSU. Defensive end C.J. Johnson will miss a third-straight game with an ankle injury.

Freeze hopes backup quarterback Barry Brunetti can go despite tightness in his shoulder during the Texas A&M game. Running back Jeff Scott is expected to play.

Other wounded players will have their status determined later in the week.

Freeze also apologized for an altercation with a fan as he left the playing surface Saturday night. A heated verbal exchange between the coach and fan was caught by a Memphis television station.

“I was asked about (the altercation) after the game and didn’t handle it very well,” Freeze said. “I was really shocked that after that game we just witnessed that it was part of it. There were a lot of factors to that. I don’t think it’s typical of me. We had just lost a gut-wrenching game. We had a kid go to the hospital that wasn’t moving. We had six kids injured during the game. There are certain experiences in life you would probably rather your wife and daughter not experience. That was one of those.

“Probably wish I could have kept more composure and still had a conversation. I will defend our program. I will defend our kids. I will defend my family. If I offended anyone, I’m certainly sorry. I don’t think I was disrespectful to anyone. I just got my point across. The greatest thing about Ole Miss is family. That is our selling point. It is working.”

Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott.

Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.