It's time to really lace them up ...

Week four of the college football season is when things really get cranking down South. Today, the first day of the week, actually felt like college football weather here in Alabama, and it sure feels nice.
This is the week where all the talk builds up and the trash piles high, as players from several Southeastern Conference schools get ready for what should be the first test of the season for a few of the teams.
The headline game has to be down at Auburn, where the Tigers welcome another batch of Tigers, the defending national champions from LSU.
The last five meetings in this series have been close, with the difference being a total of 14 points. LSU came away with last year's bragging rights, 30-24.
That win by LSU, continues the streak where the home team has won every year since Auburn knocked off Louisiana State in Baton Rouge in 1999.
The sixth-ranked LSU squad comes into the game with a 2-0 record, while No. 9 Auburn counters at 3-0, 1-0.
The last time the two teams met while both were ranked in the Associated Press Top 10 was in 2006, when No. 3 Auburn, led by Gadsden-area legend Carnell Williams (24), defeated No. 6 LSU, 7-3.
Auburn doesn't have the services of the All-American Cadillac now that he has moved on to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL, but the Tigers do appear to have their usual ferocious defense as witnessed in last week's 3-2 win at Mississippi State.
Auburn had to claw, scratch and bite its way to the close victory last weekend, but the important thing in the SEC is to survive, get the win and move on to play another weekend.
Auburn's new offense, put in place by spread guru Tony Franklin, appears to be a sticky subject for the Tigers, who have had problems putting points on the board at times this season.
But with any big game comes emotion and Auburn should be just fine at home Saturday against LSU.
ESPN thinks enough of the rivalry and the recent string of exciting finishes to tab this game as its prime-time game at 7 p.m. and to have the crew from College GameDay at the "Lovliest Village on the Plain."
Should be one of the best games of the year.
The other big SEC contest Saturday takes place about four hours up the road from here in Knoxville, Tenn., with the unranked Tennessee Volunteers hosting heated rival, the fourth-ranked Florida Gators.
Over the past 10 to 12 years, the winner of this game has represented the SEC Eastern Division in the SEC Championship Game in December in Atlanta's Georgia Dome (with the exception of a couple of years when the Georgia Bulldogs made the title tilt, but more on them later).
For years, Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer and Florida coach Steve Spurrier did not get along and with the exception of a couple of seasons, Spurrier held the upper hand.
Now, Florida has returned to being a national championship contender with Urban Meyer and Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Tim Tebow, while Tennessee has slipped a little in the SEC heirarchy the last few seasons.
Still, the Vols are the defending Eastern Division champs and 10-game winners a season ago.
But this year started bumpy, falling in overtime at UCLA to open the season. The Vols got back on track at home last Saturday, knocking off lowly UAB, 35-3.
But there is nothing like a fall day in Neyland Stadium and 100,000-plus orange-clad Vol fans singing Rocky Top to get the team going. Just watching the team run through the "T" (below) is enough to get someone fired up!
That drama and pagentry is all Volunteers. But Tennessee still has its work cut out as the Gators have their sights set on the National Championship, again. It would be the second title in three years for Florida, and the third straight for the SEC.
The only chance Tennessee has is running the football with running backs Arian Foster and Montario Hardesty. If the Vols can control the clock and outrush the No. 4 team in the country, it will give Tennessee a chance.
The last decade in this series, the team with the most rushing yards has won the game. Something to keep an eye on.
Oh, by the way, this game also falls on the same week as my birthday. I usually don't get what I want, namely a Tennessee win, but since I am getting on up there in years, I am asking please, please, Coach Fulmer!?! Win one for me?!?
Another big game in the SEC involves No. 9 Alabama heading up to Fayetteville to face the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Arkansas lost a lot to graduation, with Heisman Trophy runner-up Darren McFadden and sidekick running back Felix Jones both being chosen in the first round of the NFL draft. With those two 1,000-yard backs gone, new coach Bobby Petrino has had to lean on a lot of unfamiliar faces. What that has done is allow opponents to stay close to the Razorbacks. But Saturday is a different kind of beast for Arkansas.
The Crimson Tide comes in after dismantling former No. 9 Clemson in the season opener. Alabama followed that up with a lackluster win against Tulane and a blowout win against Western Kentucky. As expected, the Tide has played a lot of freshmen and untested players so far and it has worked out for Coach Nick Saban.
One player not seeing a lot of action is former Gadsden City High School linebacker Jerrell Harris. Harris was listed as one of the top 25 players in the country his senior year of high school by rivals.com. He currently is listed as a backup linebacker and could get redshirted this season.
That might be what is best for Harris (5), giving him a season to mature and learn the defense, because he definetly has the skill to play at this level and play well.
The Tide should beat the Razorbacks. Should not be a problem with a defense allowing less than 50 yards a game on the ground, which is tops in the nation. But stranger things have happened like Leigh Tiffin missing all those extra point attempts and field goals in an overtime loss the last time the Crimson Tide traveled to Fayetteville. Especially with the a Top 5 team -- Georgia -- looming the next week for Alabama.
Speaking of Georgia, the Bulldogs started the season No. 1 in the AP poll, but dropped after opening the season with a win against Georgia Southern, a team from the Football Championship Division (formally I-AA). The Bulldogs dropped again this past weekend with a lackluster 14-7 win against Eastern Division foe South Carolina -- the only team to defeat Georgia last year, preventing what could have been the best team at the end of last season from playing in the BCS Championship Game.
But there shouldn't be any worrying from Bulldog Nation over this. The point of it all is to win every game. Do that and the BCS Championship Game will be there for an undefeated SEC Champion.
With Matthew Stafford at quarterback and the receivers he has to throw to, such as A.J. Green, a highly touted freshman, Georgia should be able to name the score against Arizona State, even though the Sun Devils are a tough road opponent.
But what Georgia has in its favor is that Arizona State has not seen a running back the likes of Knowshown Moreno, the Bulldogs' Heisman Trophy candidate.
Moreno had one of the prettiest 5-yard touchdown runs anyone will ever see against South Carolina last weekend. The back took the handoff running left behind his line. The Gamecock defense got a great push up the field forcing Moreno to run parallel to the line of scrimmage. Even the CBS announcers thought Moreno was bottled up in the backfield for a 4-yard loss. But Moreno suddenly darted through two Gamecock defenders, put his hand on the turf for balance and then darted into the end zone without ever losing his balance and hitting the ground.
Simply amazing.
If Moreno and the Bulldogs keep that up, they will have a date in January with USC, who is clearly the best college football team in America after destroying Ohio State in a Top 5 showdown, 35-3.
This game had people shouting for the Buckeyes to drop out of sight, especially after being humiliated by Florida in the title game two years ago and being embarassed by LSU in last year's BCS Title Game.
The Trojans almost toyed with the Buckeyes throughout the entire game and with that being the last real test for USC, almost certainly seals up a trip to the BCS Title Game, unless the Trojans slip up and lose to an Oregon or Cal. But don't count on that happening. USC looks as good on the field as off the field!!!
So grab some popcorn and your favorite frosty beverage and sit in front of the big screen all Saturday it is going to be non-stop action all day long.
Myself, I am going to get my 4-year-old son, the rest of my family and some friends and enjoy the same football action, but only with frosty beverages, some hearty tailgate food and one big BIRTHDAY CAKE!!!
But instead of singing happy birthday, I hope we are singing Rocky Top all weekend long.
Till next time, enjoy and take care.... and remember Smokey -- women love him and men want to be like him!!!