Vols seeking respect vs. Irish

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Volunteers are ranked ninth in the country. They have defeated Southeastern Conference rivals Georgia and Florida. Yet they're counting on a victory over a struggling opponent for some national recognition.

Of course, the opponent today just happens to be Notre Dame.

Tennessee (7-1) rebounded from a loss last month to unbeaten Auburn to win its next four SEC games and close in on a trip to the league championship game. The Fighting Irish (5-3) are trying to maintain a winning record, but the Vols understand the Notre Dame mystique.

"We're not getting a whole lot of respect with us beating Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina. It's just a respect game for us," Tennessee linebacker Kevin Burnett said. "We feel like we've been disrespected here lately in the last couple of weeks. We just want to go out there and put together a complete Tennessee football game."

The Vols are behind Georgia in both polls, and some oddsmakers made last week's game at South Carolina a "pick 'em." Tennessee won 43-29.

The Vols have won four of their six meetings against the Irish, including the last three. Only four other Division I-A schools have a winning record against Notre Dame -- Nebraska, Florida State, Georgia and Michigan.

The Irish see the game as a chance to get back on track.

"To play in front of this crowd on this stage in a nationally televised game . . . and to show what we stand for, we need to step up," Notre Dame tailback Ryan Grant said. "This is why you come to Notre Dame and come to these schools because we get an opportunity to play these types of games."

The Irish, who upset then-No. 8 Michigan 28-20 in September, are trying to rebound from a 24-23 loss to Boston College two weeks ago. They are playing for the first time in 104,079-seat Neyland Stadium since 1999, when they lost 38-14.

"I think most of the people that have talked to me are really feeling pity on our football team, that we have to go into that environment," Notre Dame coach Tyrone Willingham said. "Gosh, I'm getting prayers already . . . We just have to suck it up, go in there and find a way to win."

The Irish have been preparing for the stadium noise by playing "Rocky Top" during practice.

"The older guys talked about what it was like to play down there. They would say how when you were in your stance, you could feel your face mask shaking it was so loud," Notre Dame defensive tackle Greg Pauly said.

The Vols already have a loss at home this season -- 34-10 to Auburn -- and haven't exactly played like a powerhouse.

This will be the first game this season in which the Vols cannot rely on a two-quarterback system to spark the offense. Erik Ainge will go it alone, now that fellow freshman Brent Schaeffer is out with a broken collarbone.

"That does help us a lot. That is definitely going to limit what they can do because they go to two separate game plans when they have different quarterbacks in," Notre Dame linebacker Derek Curry said. "But we still know they have a lot of threats."

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