Lie down on the couch and tell me your problems.

It seems these days Phillip Fulmer is almost as busy being an amateur psychiatrist as he is a full-time football coach.

Figuring out the emotional psyche of the Vols (3-5) has been an on-going process during UT's four-game losing streak.

"It's very much a mental game," Fulmer said Thursday. "The confidence of the team is very important, and I think this team certainly started the year with outstanding confidence.

"The fact that they've kept fighting: That's a great credit to them and their coaches."

The fight has been there, especially on defense. The results haven't for a team that began the season ranked No. 3 in the country.

For a coach going through adversity, there's a fine line between ripping his team and maintaining confidence.

"I tell them the truth," Fulmer said. "They get plenty of negative (from other sources).

"It is what it is. We've played a tough schedule, we haven't made the plays that we wanted."

Tennessee will be host to Memphis (4-4) at 2 p.m. Saturday in its homecoming game.

Fulmer hasn't been shy about reminding his team of the 1988 season this week.

That was the last year the Vols finished with a losing record and didn't make a bowl appearance.

Any loss in UT's final three games (Memphis, Vanderbilt and Kentucky) will produce similar results.

"The negative was they lost six in a row (in '88), but the positive was they won their last five, and they won the SEC championship the next year," Fulmer said. "That gets everybody's attention - this isn't doomsday here in Tennessee.

"We battle back, do what we're supposed to do and we'll be right back in the mix."

Don't get Fulmer wrong. He's not forgetting three games remain on this year's regular-season schedule.

"You talk about those things, but at the same time you can't go looking forward to next year," he said. "You've still got three, and hopefully, four more games to go. It's a balancing act.

"No one has thrown the towel in here."

Center Of Attention: For the second consecutive game, Fulmer said David Ligon will get the start at center for UT.

Ligon stepped in for Richie Gandy last week at Notre Dame, Gandy still recovering from ongoing knee problems.

Ligon, 6-foot-5 junior from Germantown, knows he can expect some odd matchup problems from a Memphis team often lined up with just two defensive linemen.

"Joe Lee Dunn, the defensive coordinator down there, has a very unique defensive scheme," he said. "It's going to be a big challenge for us.

"I guess they've got a couple of defensive linemen hurt, so we're going to be playing against a lot of linebackers."

Gandy will be available to play against Memphis. The rest of the starting offensive line remains intact for the Tigers.

Return Rotation: Tennessee continues to tweak and twist its return teams.

Freshman Lucas Taylor had been handed the reins, but experienced problems at Notre Dame with a fumbled kickoff and a muffed punt.

Jonathan Hefney and Demetrice Morley get the nod this week.

"Hefney will return punts, Morley will return kickoffs and Lucas will be available on both," Fulmer said. "Lucas is doing just fine.

"He's just a freshman and he's got a little bit of a shoulder thing going on, so we went back to the beginning."

UT continued to emphasize special teams in practice.

"We had a good Thursday practice, covered all the phases of the kicking game, offensively and defensively," Fulmer said.

Mayo Out: Fulmer confirmed freshman linebacker Jerod Mayo is done for the season and will have knee surgery sometime in the near future.

Also listed as out on the injury report are defensive tackle Turk McBride (knee), defensive end Xavier Mitchell (shoulder) and tailback Ja'Kouri Williams (knee).

Receiver Chris Hannon (knee) and linebacker Kevin Simon (knee) are listed as questionable. Tight end Chris Brown (ankle) is probable.

Dave Hooker contributed to the report.