Rebels’ ‘Pooh’ Paul Knows Gamecocks’ Running Back Well

OXFORD, Miss. — There won’t be a need for Ole Miss linebacker Chris “Pooh” Paul and Raheem “Rocket” Sanders. They’ll call each other by their nicknames.

If they arrive in a one-on-one situation, it won’t be the first time. They spent three years competing in spring and fall practices with the Arkansas Razorbacks.

“That’s my guy,” Paul said Tuesday before Saturday’s road game against South Carolina. “Runs hard, runs behind his pads, very elusive. (Sanders) is a bigger guy, he’s a bigger body. You just got to come with your pads, come with your legs.”

And he’s not the only running back the Rebels will have to defend against.

“They got another running back Juju McDowell,” Paul said. “I know him from high school (and) played high school ball with him. He’s pretty fast and elusive as well. We just gotta go out there play hard, fast and just hit them first. They’re very explosive.

“They capitalize off big plays and they got a quarterback that can run, they got two running backs that are pretty good. As long as we contain those players, we’ll do a pretty good job this Saturday.”

That may be coming with a heavy dose of a different approach, hopefully one that doesn’t pile up the penalties. Paul has gotten some flags this season for late hits and it’s something he’s worked at eliminating.

“You really just gotta have that killer mentality,” he said. “You just gotta have that killer instinct in you. That was just something that was instilled to me since I was young. My dad was a navy vet so everything was kind of set on discipline and things like that. One thing that he always preached to me — that goes a long way — is your mentality.

“If you go out there and you feel like you’re the best person out there (or) the baddest human being out there, sometimes it’s going to bring up your energy. That’s what you want. That helps build confidence in yourself, helps build confidence with your teammates, but your coaches as well most importantly because they can trust you to go out there and play at a high level.”

The Rebels and Gamecocks play Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN. Fans can also listen to the game on the Ole Miss Radio Network.