Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said running back Michael Smith practiced more on Thursday and, barring a change, should be ready to play against the Rebels on Saturday.

Here is a note I wrote that will appear in the paper tomorrow:

If everything goes as planned in the next 24 hours, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said running back Michael Smith will be ready to play against Ole Miss.

Petrino said Smith, who suffered a concussion at Kentucky, got in practice work for the second straight day Thursday. Petrino said he was encouraged by the junior’s performance, which included roughly 65 percent of the repetitions.

“He will (start) unless something happens in the next 24 hours,” Petrino said. “Everything went real well (Wednesday). He worked for 45 minutes individual drills and conditioning. No side effects from that. He felt great this morning when he got up, came out here and practiced and unless there’s a turnaround, I would expect he’s ready to go.”

That would be good news for Arkansas, which has leaned on Smith to power the offense the past few weeks. He leads the Southeastern Conference in rushing yards a game (131.8) and all-purpose yards (180.8). Smith carried the ball 70 times against Auburn and Kentucky, but had to leave last week’s game in the fourth quarter after a big hit.

Petrino said having Smith on the field against Ole Miss would be big for the offense, but he doesn’t want to rely on him Saturday. He’s hoping freshmen running backs De’Anthony Curtis and Dennis Johnson will become more involved and believes their play will be critical to the Razorbacks’ success.

“If (Smith is) not (available), then somebody else has to step up and do it,” Petrino said. “We have to get plays from other people. We have to get our tight ends back involved in the game. We have to get our wide receivers involved.”