If LSU’s early wake-up call at Mississippi State last weekend didn’t upset the Tigers’ circadian clocks, tonight’s visit from Arkansas should jiggle the biorhythms into haywire mode.

For gosh sakes, it’s still September. What are the Razorbacks doing in Tiger Stadium?

The Battle for The Boot usually meant the end of the regular season was at hand or near, and for most of the rivalry’s recent run it’s been accompanied by Thanksgiving leftovers.

But this year — by far the earliest in the season the teams have ever played (back in the 1930s there were some late October games in Shreveport) — Halloween candy is barely on the store shelves.

No. 12 LSU is still trying to figure out its identity.

If that was the real Tigers winning 41-14 in Starkville last week, things should be fine. But what if there’s a relapse back to the season opener and that 45-24 loss to Florida State?

That embarrassing loss had head coach Brian Kelly admitting that his team wasn’t who he thought they were.

But LSU (2-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) has bounced back impressively since that disaster, winning 72-10 over an outmanned Grambling State team before opening SEC play with total domination of the Bulldogs.

Was that what Kelly was expecting?

“I think we’re getting closer and closer,” he said this week. “Now we’re looking for consistency. We’re looking for gentlemen off the field, but not gentlemen on the field. We may have played like gentlemen both on and off the field (against Florida State). That’s not who we are and I think we’re trying to find that identity.

“I want tough guys that play the game the right way.”

So far it has all the makings of last season’s turnaround, when the Tigers bounced back from a tough season-opening loss to FSU and eventually won the SEC West title.

“We were able to do that,” Kelly said. “I think we’re finding the formula for this team. Most teams I’ve had, there have not been many where you just add water (and they play well). They all require a little bit of changing the formula as the season goes along to get the right mix.”

LSU’s defense has changed since the FSU debacle with the move of Harold Perkins, Jr. from middle linebacker to outside linebacker, from where he exploded on the national scene year in the Arkansas game. The offense has improved since quarterback Jayden Daniels took a more confident role and approach.

“We’ve seen steady improvement in our defense, similar to the year before,” Kelly said. “I think you’ll see the same thing as these guys continue to evolve in their roles and get more comfortable.”

Offensively, the Tigers have been virtually unstoppable since laying an egg against Florida State.

“We didn’t handle the (Florida State’s defensive) structure very well,” Kelly said. “The quarterback (Daniels) has shown he recognizes those structures, based on how he played against Mississippi State, which had a similar structure. We saw what he did. Our expectation is that our quarterback is going to find the right solution.”

Still, it’s as much the attitude since the Florida State game as the execution that impresses Kelly.

“We made some tweaks and adjustments to prepare our team for when it’s time to play,” Kelly said. “They play with a competitive edge and I think we’ve seen that come together over the course of the last of weeks.

“We need to do that with some consistency. That what we’re trying to do this weekend. But that’s what everybody in college football is trying to do.”