Giving thanks today becomes a matter of perspective for the 2005 Tennessee football team.

For senior linebacker Kevin Simon, it's all about saying goodbye to the memories.

"I really have enjoyed my time here at Tennessee," he said Wednesday. "I'm always going to cherish the relationships I've had with everyone.

"It puts it all in perspective this week."

This is it. Tennessee's season ends Saturday with a 12:30 p.m. trip to Kentucky (TV: WVLT).

The finality of it all -- no bowl trip and no shot at a winning season -- just adds a different perspective to the Thanksgiving holiday for UT (4-6, 2-5 SEC).

The Vols have lost five of their past six games, three of those losses coming by four or fewer points.

Making a positive out of negative isn't something that comes easily, especially for the intensely competitive Simon.

"To me, winning is important," he said. "I feel like I'm going to walk like a winner, talk like a winner and I'm going to carry myself like a winner.

"That's the only way to go about things, not just football but life. You've got to walk that walk on a daily basis."

Walking that walk simply hasn't been as easy this season.

Simon leads a UT defense ranked among the best in the nation with his 84 tackles.

All that is meaningless as far as the California native is concerned.

"I've been playing football since I was 8 and I've never been on a losing football team," he said. "It's something that's hard to deal with."

The frustration was capped by last week's 28-24 loss to Vanderbilt.

For senior guard Cody Douglas, it doesn't get much lower than the feeling he experienced on Saturday.

"I think that goes without saying," Douglas said. "Obviously, everybody's down in the dumps. This is something nobody saw coming.

"If anybody says they feel good about anything that has happened this season, they're probably lying to you."

Douglas just doesn't want to end the season with any feeling remotely similar to the one he had after the loss to Vandy.

Beating Kentucky (3-7, 2-5), something Tennessee has done every year since a loss 21 years ago in 1984, is a way to redeem at least a glimmer of a positive feeling with no bowl game on the horizon.

"It means a lot to me," Douglas said. "I know I'm going to come out and try to play my best and try to go out on a positive note. I hope everybody else feels that way.

"It's bad enough, my last moments in Neyland Stadium are that bad. I don't want my last time in a Volunteer uniform to be that bad also."

Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer has preached that message all week.

As for today, there's a morning practice, including the "last tackle" for seniors like Simon and Douglas. Then comes family and friends and reflection.

"I have thousands of things to be thankful for," Fulmer said. "You think about your health, the health of your family, the love we have in our family and certainly my faith.

"There's friends, extended family, the opportunity to work at a great place like this and the opportunity to have a relationship with the coaches and players."

So what will Simon be thinking about today?

"Family, friends and an opportunity to play this game I love," he said. "If I want to be at my best on Saturday, then I have to eat, breathe and sleep football."

One last time, that's the agenda -- eat, breathe, sleep football.