The Ole Miss Rebels welcomed Notre Dame to Oxford on Sept. 27, 1977, and stunned the Fighting Irish, 20-13. The Rebels would finish the year 6-5 while Notre Dame ran the table after its Mississippi hiccup, topping Texas in the Cotton Bowl and claiming the national championship.

Some guy in the Magnolia State had the idea to capitalize on the unlikely Rebel victory, so he created a bumper sticker after the season that proclaimed, “Ole Miss 20, National Champions 13.”

Jump 31 years to the future. The same date — Sept. 27 — only this time it’s Ole Miss pulling off an amazing 31-30 victory over Florida in Gainesville.

Based on what I saw yesterday it might be time to fire up the bumper sticker machine again. The Rebs just might’ve defeated another team that’ll wind up ranked No. 1 at the end of the year.

The nation’s No. 3 ranked squad laid South Carolina to waste Saturday, looking like a squad that will and should be in Miami come January. While the Gamecocks were in the Christmas spirit early on — handing over three gifts that Florida quickly traded in for cash — it really didn’t matter.

I’m not sure even a near-perfect game on the part of Steve Spurrier’s troops would’ve kept the Gators out of the win column. The fact that USC had one of its most mistake-prone contests in recent memory simply ensured a sure thing.

I often warn about slipping a crown on a team before it actually proves its royalty. Many of us had penciled in USC for the national crown before the Trojans played Oregon State.

Then it was Oklahoma who was the unquestioned No. 1 — until Texas defeated the Sooners.

The Longhorns were then head and shoulders above the rest of the college football nation, only to be humbled in Lubbock.

Next thing you know, people were wondering which South Beach hotel the Alabama team would be staying at and which one would house Texas Tech for the BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 8.

Still, I can’t help but try to find a seat on the Florida bandwagon.

After breezing past The Citadel next Saturday the Gators should close out an 11-1 regular season with a victory over Florida State.

The next stop is the Georgia Dome, where Urban Meyer’s 11-1 team will have a chance to win the SEC Championship and enter the bowl season ranked no worse than No. 2 in the BCS.

Am I jumping the gun? Possibly.

If the Gators fall to the Seminoles or Crimson Tide, I’ll be kicking myself for not taking my own advice about premature coronations.

On the other hand if I live in Oxford, I’m already printing up a bunch of bumper stickers.

“Ole Miss 31, National Champions 30” has a nice ring to it — and I’m thinking it’s going to ring true.