OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - There's much at stake in this year's Egg Bowl.

No. 25 Mississippi State (8-3, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) is trying to win four in a row in the rivalry for the first time since the 1940s when the teams meet on Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mississippi (5-6, 2-5) is one victory away from bowl eligibility for the first time since 2009.

Bulldogs coach Dan Mullen says what makes the rivalry so special is there aren't many areas of the Magnolia State that are dominated by one of the two fan bases. Instead, there are Bulldogs and Rebels sprinkled together in almost every city, and there's no avoiding the other group.

Mullen says ``it's a neighbor-to-neighbor'' rivalry, which makes it an ``even bigger game.