BATON ROUGE, La. -- In football crazy Baton Rouge, every fall Saturday is welcomed, but none will receive a warmer one that the Tennessee-LSU game on Saturday.

Because of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, the season opener was postponed and the next game was relocated. Also mixed in was an open date, giving LSU only one game in the season's first three weeks and none in front of their hometown fans.

No. 3 LSU and No. 10 Tennessee will break the long drought which has seen the Tigers practicing instead of playing.

"It means a lot," said center Rudy Niswanger. "You usually open up the season at home, but we didn't get that due to other circumstances. We're ready to play in front of our fans in our stadium and our atmosphere. We can't wait for it."

ESPN is sending its "GameDay" crew to broadcast from Baton Rouge, and the network's morning show "Cold Pizza" will broadcast live from LSU. LSU coach Les Miles said he isn't worried about any added hype or distractions after the way his team has handled the past three weeks.

"I think we've handled a lot of outer stuff," he said. "I don't think that's going to be an issue."

Several Tigers still have friends and family, displaced by Katrina, staying with them.

"It's still a little bit of hectic times right now, but I think guys have handled it well," LSU offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth said. "They're kind of growing used to it."

Lets Get Physical: Miles said he expects a more physical game from Tennessee than from Arizona State. Whitworth agreed.

"Anytime you play Tennessee, you're going to get that," Whitworth said. "A lot of big, big linemen. They play with big linemen on both sides of the ball, so I think that up front is going to be the real key this weekend."

Defensive tackle Kyle Williams said he believes Tennessee will try to run the ball more than Arizona State, which has passed for 1,203 yards in three games.

"If you can take the run game away from, you get them to where you make them do things that they don't want to do," Williams said of the Vols. "Thy definitely want to run the ball first to set up the pass."

Favorite Son: Miles said he invited a large contingent of friends and family to see his opening game in Tiger Stadium. Whether they come is another matter.

"They have not been able to get hotel rooms and my house is a big-sized house, but I can't get them all in there," he said.

Miles said among those expected to be in attendance are his mother, Martha, and his old line coach John Sheldon, who lives in the Cleveland area.

Relief Shirts: The LSU Student Government Association is selling gold T-shirts this week with proceeds going to the Hurricane Katrina Student Relief Fund. The shirts are $14 each. More information can be obtained online at www.sg.lsu.edu.