Yeah, it's hard, absorbing so much so fast. Sure, the pressure of having to perform under intense scrutiny every day can be exhausting.

And, naturally, Tennessee's freshmen quarterbacks, on the cusp of making history, wouldn't have it any other way.

"It's happened pretty fast,'' Brent Schaeffer said Thursday in a rare visit with the media, "but, you know, I pretty much wanted it, so it's here.

"I worked hard through being smart and playing high school just for moments like this.''

On Sept. 5, either Schaeffer or fellow true freshman Erik Ainge will take the first snap of the Vols' season opener against UNLV at Neyland Stadium. A true freshman straight out of high school starting the season opener will be a precedent, at least a modern-era one, at Tennessee, if not in the entire SEC.

The two rookies are being force-fed as much preparation by head coach Phillip Fulmer and offensive coordinator Randy Sanders as they can humanly handle.

"I'm tired a lot,'' said Ainge. "About all I do when I'm not over here is sleep.

"But coach Fulmer and coach Sanders do a really good job of making hard work fun.''

Competition is nothing new for Schaeffer or Ainge. They're from opposite corners of the continent - Schaeffer from South Florida, Ainge from Oregon - but they share a common learning curve.

Neither was handed a starting job at his respective high school. They both waited and learned until their junior seasons.

"I've been through situations like this before,'' said Schaeffer. "That helped me to deal with a lot of pressure and know how to compete and still come out and play every down and keep my head up, even when things are not going my way.''

Ainge agrees that experience served him well for the grind that has dominated his life since he arrived on campus.

"I knew it was going to be every single day you come out here, you've got to compete,'' he said. "You can't ever take a day off.

"If I have a real bad day and Brent has a real good day, that separates us. If I have a great day and Brent comes out and doesn't throw the ball well, that separates us.

"If you do that more than a few days, you might lose that position.''

The position hasn't been won or lost yet, even though Schaeffer gets first crack in most practice situations.

Fulmer said it's safe to assume both will play against UNLV, but how much and in what order is up in the air. He joked - we think - that he might trot both out for the first play, line them up in shotgun formation and prolong the suspense until the snap arrives in the grasp of one of them.

"We've kicked around a couple of thoughts,'' Fulmer said, "but that changes almost daily. We'll figure it out. Right now, we're just worried about the next day.''

He may be worrying, but the freshmen are not.

"I'm not overwhelmed,'' said Schaeffer. "I'm just taking it in stride.

"I try not to think about it as pressure. I just try to think of it as coming out and playing football like we've always been playing.

"I think we're responding pretty good.''

But who responds when the lights go on at Neyland Stadium, that's the real deal.

"I want what's best for the team and I want to win,'' said Ainge, "so if we're better with me playing, then I want to play.

"If we're better with Brent, obviously he needs to play. But we might not find that out until we both play, so we'll see.''

Mike Strange covers University of Tennessee sports. He may be reached at 865-342-6276.