As a senior in 2008, he led his team to the Mississippi 5A State Championship, where they snapped South Panola's 89-game winning streak dating back to 2003.
Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen almost inserted him in the Bulldogs' loss to Houston but decided against it preserving Russell's eligibility.
[9] However, as the backup, he played sporadically over the season, only throwing for over 100 yards one more time, in a 49–16 defeat of Alcorn State.
[11] Russell played the entire game the next week, a 14–12 loss to South Carolina,[12] and split time with Relf over the rest of the season.
Russell threw for a career-high 295 yards in a loss at LSU[13] and again tied the school record with 4 touchdown passes in a 45–14 win over Arkansas.