The game will be Notre Dame's 19th matchup with a defending national champ. The Fighting Irish (5-3) are 9-7-3 in those games, most recently defeating Michigan in the 1998 season opener.

Tennessee (6-1) has not met the Irish since 1991, when the Volunteers prevailed, 35-34, in a classic battle at Notre Dame Stadium. The schools have met three other times, with Tennessee posting a 40-18 win in 1979 and Notre Dame emerging with victories by a 31-14 margin in 1978 and 34-29 in 1990.

The 1991 contest was an epic. Tennessee trailed 31-7 late in the first half before recording the biggest comeback in school history.

Darryl Hardy began the rally in the waning moments of the first half by blocking a field goal that Floyd Miley picked up and ran 85 yards for a touchdown. After Tennessee took the lead on two fourth-quarter touchdowns by Aaron Hayden, Jeremy Lincoln partially blocked an Irish field goal attempt with four seconds left to seal the victory.

All five games in the series, including this contest, have been played within a six-day range -- November 6-11 -- and the cold should not keep the Tennessee River any less crowded on game day. The crowd has helped Tennessee win 20 straight games at Neyland Stadium.

The hype for this game will become tremendous as kickoff nears, but there should be little animosity between the teams. Not one Notre Dame player hails from Tennessee, while the Volunteers are without a Indiana native.

Notre Dame has won four straight since a disastrous three-game losing streak, but comes off a last-second 28-24 victory over Navy, a team it should have beaten handily. A win over the Volunteers would put the Irish back in line for a possible post-new year bowl game.

To win, they need strong performances from quarterback Jarious Jackson and running back Tony Fisher. Jackson has completed 123-of-207 passes for 1,859 yards and 12 touchdowns with nine interceptions and ranks second on the team in rushing behind Fisher, who has carried 103 times for 541 yards.

Tennessee counters with the nation's sixth-ranked defense, which, along with the crowd, should present many problems for the Irish and Jackson. Jackson's inability to audible because of noise cost the team a possible victory at Purdue.

The Volunteers are holding opponents to just 74.1 yards per game on the ground, the lowest average since the 1970 team gave up 88.4 yards rushing per contest. They have not allowed a rushing touchdown in the last nine regular-season contests, including the Southeastern Conference title game, and only one in the last 11 games spanning 44 quarters. They are the only team in Division I-A and I-AA that has not allowed a rushing touchdown.

Tennessee's defense allows its offense plenty of opportunity to work and Tee Martin and Jamal Lewis have delivered. Martin has overcome early season struggles, although his touchdown to interception ratio is still a poor 3-4.

Lewis has returned from last season's knee injury to rush 141 times for 700 yards and six touchdowns and his 6-foot, 225-pound body presents an undersized Notre Dame defense with a lot of problems. The Fighting Irish rank 49th in the nation in rushing defense and allowed 231 yards on the ground to the Midshipmen.

NOTRE DAME Season schedule and results	TENNESSEE Season schedule and results
Aug. 28 Kansas W 48-13 Sep. 4 @Michigan L 22-26 Sep. 11 @Purdue L 23-28 Sep. 18 Michigan State L 13-23 Oct. 2 Oklahoma W 34-30 Oct. 9 Arizona State W 48-17 Oct. 16 USC W 25-24 Oct. 30 Navy W 28-24 Nov. 6 @Tennessee TBA Nov. 13 @Pittsburgh 3:30pm ET Nov. 20 Boston College 1:30pm ET Nov. 27 @Stanford 8:00pm ET	Sep. 4 Wyoming W 42-17 Sep. 18 @Florida L 21-23 Sep. 25 Memphis W 17-16 Oct. 2 Auburn W 24-0 Oct. 9 Georgia W 37-20 Oct. 23 @Alabama W 21-7 Oct. 30 South Carolina W 30-7 Nov. 6 Notre Dame TBA Nov. 13 @Arkansas 2:00pm ET Nov. 20 @Kentucky 2:30pm ET Nov. 27 Vanderbilt TBA