KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer, fond of certain football sayings, wasn't trying to hide Tuesday that even overused ones work.<br>
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The ones he picked out this week demonstrate how different the Volunteers are this year. No. 8 Tennessee (7-1, 3-1 SEC) hosts No. 13 LSU (6-2, 2-2) Saturday, still in the chase with Florida in the East division and hoping to get into better contention for a BCS bowl.<br>
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``Looking at where we are right now there's two cliches we have used quite a bit,'' he said during his weekly news conference.<br>
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One is ``They remember what you do in November.'' After LSU, the Vols travel to Arkansas. Normally, Tennessee breezes through the final month of the season with a non-conference game before finishing against Vanderbilt and Kentucky. Last year, when the Vols were 5-6, Tennessee was reduced to just playing for a postseason berth.<br>
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``Obviously this November is as challenging as we've had,'' Fulmer said.<br>
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His second cliche ``The wind will blow the hardest at the top of the flagpole'' comes into play because Tennessee has only one league loss, which ties it with Florida for the lead. But the Gators hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, and a second SEC loss would automatically end the Vols' chances in the BCS.<br>
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``I am anxious to see how the team handles themselves as they have put themselves in a positive position going into the last month of the season,'' Fulmer said.<br>
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LSU will be a stout test with the top-ranked defense in the country and an offense neck-in-neck in productivity with the Vols. Oddsmakers have LSU as the slight favorite.<br>
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``Our team has to have an attitude for this football game find a way or make a way. That's basically where we are. It's as simple as that,'' Fulmer said, gripping the lectern.<br>
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``We need to be focused and have the intensity and energy in practice so that we can execute as well as we have executed this season to win this football game.''<br>
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As for the talk about bowl games or rankings, Fulmer doesn't want any of it.<br>
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``We are totally focused on LSU. Any player or coach or anyone else that wants to think otherwise about other things at this point, it's really just a waste of time and a waste of breath. If we don't take care of our business, that's all it is talk,'' Fulmer said.<br>
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Injuries are becoming a bigger factor for Tennessee. The most high-profile is quarterback Erik Ainge with a sprained right ankle he suffered in last week's win at South Carolina.<br>
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Ainge didn't practice Monday, and it was unclear how much practice he would get in this week. Fulmer made it clear on Tuesday that practicing is important.<br>
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Ainge and Fulmer said earlier this week he would play against LSU.<br>
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When asked Tuesday which day Ainge would need to be back at practice to play well, Fulmer answered, ``Yesterday.''<br>
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``We'll just have to see. Right now all I can take is what he says. Anything I'd say beyond that would be guessing. We'll make the best decision we can,'' Fulmer said.<br>
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Meanwhile, Fulmer said redshirt freshman Jonathan Crompton has been getting the same number of snaps as Ainge in practice.<br>
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Other players, such as offensive tackle Arron Sears, receiver Jayson Swain and linebacker Jerod Mayo, have been playing on sprained ankles.<br>
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