SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Maybe what Tennessee really needs is a Touchdown Jesus looking down on Neyland Stadium.

Hanging Peyton Manning's number 16 on the south end zone balcony Saturday night didn't work any scoreboard mojo.

Arian Foster was headed directly at it when he fumbled at the goal line. Chris Hannon was looking up toward it when that pass flicked off his fingertips in the end zone.

Tennessee's downward spiral picked up momentum in a 16-15 loss to South Carolina, but if you paint by the numbers, the Vols were right on form.

They rank 108th in the nation in scoring offense at 16.14 points a game.

Their next stop is Notre Dame Stadium, where the famed Touchdown Jesus mural on the wall of the Hesburgh Library watches over the gridiron fortunes of the Fighting Irish.

He's been keeping those arms raised this fall.

Notre Dame ranks 11th in the nation in scoring offense at 37.86 yards a game.

The Vols and the Irish have more or less swapped roles since they met in Knoxville a year ago.

Tennessee was No. 9 and building momentum when it lost to unranked Notre Dame 17-13.

This week, the Irish are No. 8. A third consecutive loss ejected the Vols out of the polls for the first time since the end of the 2002 season.

Given that Notre Dame is on the extreme uptick and the Vols are dazed and confused, a Tennessee victory on Saturday would be dubbed Miracle in South Bend II.

The lead story in the South Bend Tribune sports section Sunday was first-year head coach Charlie Weis signing a contract extension that ties him to Notre Dame until 2015.

Last year's 6-6 season is ancient history.

In the lead story in this newspaper's sport section Sunday, UT head coach Phillip Fulmer called the South Carolina loss "unacceptable" and vowed to make "tough decisions" to get the Vols back on track.

Last year's 10-3 season is ancient history.

Tennessee is in the grips of a terrible breakdown that has no end in sight.

How terrible?

Let's consider two common reference points.

It's not as terrible as the 0-6 start in 1988.

The defense was so awful, the '88 Vols had no chance against their top SEC rivals. This fall, the defense keeps UT in every game.

It's not as terrible as 1992, the most recent three-game losing streak.

Fulmer's approval rating might be at a low point, but he doesn't have to worry about a coups.

The movers and shakers are still in Fulmer's corner. There's no palace intrigue of the sort that cost Johnny Majors his job after that three-game tumble.

The current funk reminds me of something of more recent vintage. Like 2002.

Three years ago, UT started high (No. 4), played poorly in a home loss to Florida, battled to 4-1 and then the wheels fell off.

The Vols lost to Georgia, minus injured Casey Clausen, looked sloppy in a bad home loss to Alabama, squeaked past South Carolina and then were totally overmatched by No. 1 Miami, 26-3, in Neyland Stadium.

That was the low point of the Fulmer era. Until now.

As for what "tough decisions" he might be contemplating, Fulmer didn't elaborate Sunday night on his teleconference. He did hint that "contemplating" covers a lot of ground.

"Everybody wants to say it is this person or that person,'' Fulmer said. "I would certainly be open-mined enough that if that were the case, I would say that.

"It's a combination of a lot of things. Some you can fix in the short term, hopefully. Some may take longer to get fixed.''

Short term is Notre Dame. It'll be a miracle if the Vols get things fixed Saturday.