OXFORD ― Talking season does not award championships. If it did, coach Lane Kiffin would already have Ole Miss football's trophy cabinet bursting at the seams.

Still, Kiffin's mastery of the microphone has helped lift the Rebels into the national spotlight ‒ and his recent results have done the same. Ole Miss is coming off the first 11-win season in its history, and expectations are high for the Rebels as they prepare to take the stage at SEC Media Days in Dallas on Monday.

There will be jokes. There will probably be Taylor Swift references. But there are questions of substance to be addressed, too.

Here are three questions for Kiffin ahead of the event.

Does Lane Kiffin know Ole Miss football's starting running back yet?

Baseball executive Billy Beane would approve of Kiffin's offseason attempt to replace star running back Quinshon Judkins, who bolted for Ohio State.

The Rebels added three transfer backs in their Moneyball-style quest to recreate Judkins in the aggregate. LSU transfer Logan Diggs will need time before he's ready to play following a bowl game injury. Rashad Amos rushed for 1,075 yards and 13 touchdowns last season at Miami (Ohio), and Henry Parrish Jr. accumulated 625 rushing yards and six touchdowns with the Miami Hurricanes.

None of those transfer backs partook in spring practice at Ole Miss, and neither did Ulysses Bentley IV, who posted efficient numbers as Judkins' understudy last season.

So, who's the leader in the clubhouse to start when the Rebels begin their season? Does Kiffin intend to use a workhorse back or take a by-committee approach?

The picture is hazy. Perhaps media days will offer some clarity before preseason practice begins.

What's the deal with Deion Smith?

Ole Miss announced a list of 21 players who arrived on campus in June ahead of summer workouts.

Junior college wideout Deion Smith, who committed to the Rebels on Dec. 4 and was unveiled as part of their signing class, was not among them.

Smith, considered the top junior college player in the country for the 2024 cycle by the 247Sports Composite, piled up 1,063 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns in eight games for Holmes Community College last season. He signed with LSU out of high school, playing in six games as a true freshman in 2021. Academic factors reportedly held up his transfer intentions the following offseason, taking him down the junior college route.

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What are Lane Kiffin's thoughts on upcoming revenue sharing changes?

Ole Miss has leveraged a strong NIL collective and Kiffin's transfer portal proficiency into a 16-8 SEC record over the last three seasons. And many are projecting the Rebels as a top 10 team nationally heading into 2024 after they secured the top transfer portal class in college football.

But that hasn't stopped Kiffin from criticizing the system. He called it a "disaster" a year ago at SEC Media Days, and that was before legislation opened the door for athletes to transfer multiple times without restriction.

The college football economy is about to get a major overhaul, with athletic departments set to begin sharing their revenue with their athletes as early as the fall of 2025.

The news broke in late May that the NCAA reached a settlement in the class action lawsuit against it, opening the door for revenue sharing. Kiffin last met with the local media on April 13. His thoughts on the topic should be a major talking point.

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Three questions for Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss football at SEC Media Days