BATON ROUGE — Forget the fact that LSU will play for the SEC championship one week from today.

This is what LSU felt like Friday after getting knocked out of the national championship race by Arkansas:

“Right now, nobody’s going to motivate anybody,” LSU Coach Les Miles said. “There was a goal of our football team taken off the board, and it’s sad.... Tonight, you’re going to be sick.”

Tigers running back Jacob Hester looked sick as he tried to explain the emotions he was feeling as he left the field at Tiger Stadium after Arkansas toppled No. 1 LSU 50-48 in three overtimes.

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“I can’t even explain it,” Hester said. “It was like a dead feeling.”

Arkansas’ Darren McFadden was responsible for much of LSU’s ills. McFadden, a Heisman Trophy favorite at the beginning of the season, made a strong push to claim college football’s most coveted statue in the regular-season finale.

McFadden alternated between tailback and quarterback for much of Friday’s game, and he finished with 206 yards and 3 touchdowns on 32 carries. He also completed 3 of 6 passes for 34 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown throw to fullback Peyton Hillis.

“Well, certainly, he had a Heisman performance today,” Miles said of McFadden. “McFadden’s going to play for decades, for as long as he’s healthy.”

It was the second consecutive stunning performance by Mc-Fadden against LSU. In a 31-26 loss to the Tigers in Little Rock last season, McFadden ran 21 times for 182 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Miles said he believed LSU was better prepared to contain McFadden this time, but that he wasn’t surprised by anything he did against the Tigers.

“I knew how good he was. I watched him a year ago, how good he was,” Miles said. “I was surprised by how successful he was, but I was not surprised by the back.”

Miles also sounded as if he’s seen enough of McFadden, alluding to the fact that McFadden will be a top pick in the NFL Draft if he opts not to return for his senior season.

“He’s got the great combination of power and speed, and if he’s not the first player taken at his position, I’ll be surprised,” Miles said.

McFadden gave Arkansas leads of 7-6 and 14-6 with touchdown runs of 16 and 73 yards in the second and third quarters, respectively. The 73-yard run allowed McFadden to break Arkansas’ single-season rushing record — the mark of 1, 647 he set last season.

McFadden, who has 1, 725 rushing yards this season, also passed Auburn’s Bo Jackson to claim third place on the SEC’s all-time rushing list. McFadden has 4, 485 career rushing yards.

“He stepped up and made some plays when it was time,” LSU defensive end Kirston Pittman said. “We had some shots at him, but we weren’t able to get him, and he capitalized on that.”

Miles agreed and bemoaned the fact the Tigers didn’t do the same.

“We’ll look at this and see that there were some opportunities to win, and that’ll be hard,” Miles said. “This team fought like hell.”