A legend gets honored.

A legendary victory gets put in the rearview mirror.

A quarterback with more lives than a California cat takes center stage once more.

Welcome Ole Miss. Come on into Neyland Stadium for just another Saturday afternoon of Tennessee football.

The No. 10 Vols (2-1, 1-1 SEC) attempt a return to normalcy under anything but normal circumstances for today's 12:30 p.m. kickoff (TV; WVLT).

* It seems like just yesterday beer bottles were crashing into the team bus down in Baton Rouge, La.

* A 4 a.m. Tuesday return and a short week of practice followed Monday night's dramatic 30-27 overtime victory at No. 4 LSU.

* Rick Clausen has resurrected his senior season and earned the starting job at quarterback.

* Then there's the noon pre-game ceremony to retire the late Reggie White's No. 92 and honor one of the most-dominating defensive linemen in football history.

Yeah, it's just another Saturday on the hill. Some return to normalcy.

Mississippi (1-2, 0-1) enters the game with a two-game losing streak and a first-year head coach in Ed Orgeron.

It's the same Ed Orgeron who vowed to throw a recruiting wall around Memphis.

The same Ed Orgeron who replaced popular former UT offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe as coach in Oxford.

"Obviously it's a crucial game for us," UT coach Phillip Fulmer said. "We need our fans out early and loud to welcome us back from a couple of road games we've had.

"We're just excited about the opportunities we've created for ourselves by winning the game at LSU."

Opportunity means staying alive in the SEC East title chase.

With that opportunity comes no room for any post-LSU celebratory letdowns.

"We need to keep winning games because we have no margin of error," Clausen said after being named SEC Player of the Week for his performance against LSU.

A date with another top-10 ranked team awaits the Vols next Saturday when Georgia comes to town.

Ole Miss is the sandwich game: A dangerous setting for the Vols, still waiting to put four full quarters of football together in one game.

The Rebels are playing their third road game of the season and are coming off losses to Vanderbilt (31-23) and Wyoming (24-14).

Tennessee is a three-touchdown favorite on a day expected to be perfect for football.

"Obviously we're playing a very talented football team," Orgeron said. "A team that fought back hard against LSU.

"I think they have a great running back in (Gerald) Riggs, a big, physical line and a lot of speed at receiver. I really like the way they play defense, especially up front."

Ole Miss features a dangerous threat in mobile quarterback Michael Spurlock and a freshman running back threat in Mico McSwain.

Spurlock will play despite having a broken finger on his non-throwing hand. The senior has completed 35 of 73 passes for 524 yards and two TDs.

"They have a very athletic quarterback in Spurlock," Fulmer said. "He's a guy who can give you all kinds of problems with his speed, mobility and ability to throw the football."

McSwain has emerged as the go-to back.

He's averaging 11.4 yards per carry with 225 yards on 19 carries. Orgeron has vowed this week to get the ball in McSwain's hands more often against the Vols.

"He's the kind of kid who, if you give him a crack and don't take care of your gap, he'll scare the heck out of you and take it a long way," Fulmer said.

The problem for McSwain is finding holes in a Tennessee defense ranked No. 1 in the SEC against the run.

Another threat can be found in return man Mike Espy, a former Tennessee recruit.

Espy is among the SEC leaders in punt returns, kickoff returns and all-purpose yardage.

Defensively, the Rebels are giving up 391.3 yards per game and they'll be without linebacker and leader Patrick Willis.

Tennessee just wants to keep the momentum rolling.

"There's obviously some maturity and mental toughness on this football team," Fulmer said. "My sincere hope is we use that to move forward."