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This is why everyone collectively holds their breath on No. 4 Ole Miss as a legitimate College Football Playoff contender under coach Lane Kiffin. 

Saturday's 24-21 escape against Washington State, who entered as a 33-point underdog, produced a lot of "surrender cobras" and lengthy sighs from Rebels fans who sensed the game was heading in the wrong direction throughout for one of the SEC's lone remaining unbeaten teams. 

Unfortunately, it's a feeling those in Oxford know all too well under Kiffin, whose two losses last season against unranked competition cost the Rebels a spot in the CFP. A loss to the Cougars Saturday would've been the most improbable of his tenure, considering the gaffes last fall came in SEC play against Kentucky and Florida.

"Hats off to Washington State, those guys played really hard ... we didn't make plays at the end to close it out," Kiffin said after the game. "I guess maybe survive and advance mentality. [We] were very erratic ... we had them stopped on third down, late hit on quarterback. really not a clean day, but we got through a trap game and we've got to go play a lot better."

The Rebels needed a defensive stop in the final minute with Washington State out of timeouts to preserve the victory -- this, after the Rebels failed to run out the clock and were instead forced to punt the ball back to the Cougars. 

Adamant earlier this season about his program not having the resources to compete with a "$30 million roster" following a 59-24 loss to Washington, Cougars coach Jimmy Rogers and his bargain bin two-deep were only a couple plays away from taking down one of the SEC's top titans with the most shocking upset of the season.

Kiffin has practically written the book on how to overlook outmanned competition courtesy of bad execution, a litany of missed opportunities and the excuse of another sleepy, early kickoff dooming his supposed contender. Two plays after a hands to face penalty on the Rebels — the team's third personal foul of the contest and one of eight penalties on the day — Washington State running back Kirby Vorhees took a dive play 46 yards to the end zone for a 14-10 lead with 10:19 to play in the third quarter. 

More than 2,100 miles away from its own campus, Washington State's first trip to Oxford was nearly complete before the Rebels' depth — specifically along the defensive front — took over late.

In his sixth season at Ole Miss, Kiffin is now 50-18, with eight of those losses coming against unranked opponents. He nearly had another in Week 7 that would've been unconscionable given the Rebels' start as one of the nation's top squads.

Last season, Kiffin said the home loss to Kentucky as a double-digit favorite was "really hard to deal with" before murmuring some of the same stuff after falling at Florida in November ended playoff hopes.

The fastest to 50 overall wins in program history, Kiffin dismissed that number after a headache-inducing performance from his team.

"I don't know ... we barely won today, so I ain't worried about that," Kiffin said.

Wake-up call for Ole Miss before Georgia

It's easier to stomach teachable moments after a win than the alternative, and luckily for the Rebels, their defense was efficient down the stretch and harassed Washington State quarterback Zevi Eckhaus. The first three possessions of the contest for Ole Miss resulted in a turnover on downs, a missed field goal and a lost fumble before scores on three of its next four possessions pushed the Rebels out front for good.

Ole Miss took a 17-14 lead on Trinidad Chambliss' 17-yard scramble drill touchdown late in the third quarter before his touchdown pass to Cayden Lee with 6:51 left pushed the lead to 10 points.

Kiffin joked at halftime that he told Chambliss to get it together and focus on what the Rebels did right to end the opening half with consecutive scoring drives. 

"Early on I said, 'Let's not go back to that Division II stuff,'" Kiffin said.

Foolish banter from Kiffin aside, Saturday's effort in any of the Rebels' five remaining games against SEC competition will take this top-five team out of the league title conversation and ultimately, remove them from playoff consideration, too.