New Orleans, La. – The Tulane Green Wave have certainly had the opportunity to shine on a big stage through their non-conference slate.

With two Power Four wins under their belt, the Green Wave look to topple a third this Saturday in the Ole Miss Rebels.

Just as the Darian Mensah-led Duke Blue Devils possessed some unique challenges, those trials will continue for Tulane as they prepare to head to Oxford, Miss.

There’s the physical battle that the Green Wave are trying not to lose heading into American conference play.

One game against a Power Four-sized team will wear down those in the Group of Five, where there always tends to be a size mismatch in the trenches especially.

Tulane has their work cut out for them against an SEC-sized Rebels squad. That would be the case without the gauntlet they’ve had to endure to get to Week 4.

In non-conference play, teams may want to rest some starters and see what they have in their younger players and backups before they hit the games that will get them to the American conference championship.

The Green Wave don’t have that luxury. Their starters have had to finish out complete games. As head coach Jon Sumrall explained to reporters on Tuesday, that has caused them to shorten up some early week work after being a bit fatigued and beat up from last weekend.

“We have to make sure we practice smart while still getting the work we need,” Sumrall said. “But we have to be smart enough to make sure we show up fast on Saturday, extremely fast.”

Then there’s the mental challenge that still lingers from the emotional win over the Duke Blue Devils, where fans rushed the field in a bit of a catharsis moment, and it felt a lot more like an end-of-the-season game than Week 3.

“You have to answer the bell,” Sumrall explained. “I mean, it's like a boxer, right? Every time you come out of the break, you got to get back up and go fight again. And boxing's 12 rounds, this is 12 regular season games. We have to get up and answer the bell.”

He didn’t feel that the team did that heading into period one of practice on Tuesday lacking energy.

“I let them know, if, this is how we're going to roll, we're going to get our **s beat. You better be dialed in. I think practice got better from there, but this is, I mean it's hard and our guys got to get over [last weekend]. That one's gone forever to me, and this next one's all that matters for the next week. And I think the thing I fear is just complacency.”

To Sumrall, there’s nothing overtly good about beating a team by seven points last weekend after a two-point win the week prior; he pointed to the season opener where they only scored a field goal after halftime.

“Wow, so good,” Sumrall said sarcastically. “We better freaking wake up.”

Now, Sumrall is one of the best motivators in the sport and leans into emotions that show how much he cares about the team and players that make it up.

That came across in his comments Tuesday. So did a sense of urgency that the team must answer the bell for. There’s been many a Tuesday press conference where Sumrall is critical of the team’s efforts.

They’ve always responded.