Cal can picture environment at Neyland

"It's very impressive," Tedford said of Neyland Stadium. "We've got a picture of it in our locker room. So our players understand where they're going."

Tedford has relied on simulated crowd noise in practice.

"We have so much noise at practice, we can't even hear ourselves talk," Tedford said in an interview last week on the News Sentinel's radio show, The Sports Page.

Preparing the Golden Bears for Southern heat and humidity has been more difficult, but Tedford is doing his best.

"We've taken our team off-site to practice (about 15 miles from campus)," he said. "It doesn't get in the 90s here, but we've had a couple of 80-degree days and wetted the field down (to create humidity)."

Tedford said he would have been more concerned about opening the season in a hostile environment last year.

"This team is experienced enough," he said. "It has played in loud stadiums."

Undecided: Tedford said on Sunday’s teleconference that he has yet to decide on a starting quarterback. He said he expects to announce the starter Tuesday.

Nate Longshore and Joe Ayoob have split time with the first team throughout the preseason. Longshore missed several days of practice last week with a minor back injury but Tedford expects him to be at full speed this week.

Deep At LB: Linebackers Anthony Felder and Zack Follett both made first-team, freshman All-American last year, but neither is listed as a starter. That speaks volumes for Cal's linebacking depth.

Bishop, a 6-foot-2, 243-pound senior, will start at middle linebacker. He led the Golden Bears in tackles last season and was a second-team All-Pac-10 pick in 2005.

Senior Mickey Pimentel (6-2, 238) and Worrell Williams (6-0, 256) are projected as the other starters.

Punting Debut: Punter Andrew Larson, a junior college All-American, will make his major-college debut against the Vols.

Larson, who averaged 42.6 yards per punt last season, earned a scholarship to Wyoming after his senior season at Laguna Hills High School in Mission Viejo, Calif. That didn't work out.

"It was great in the summer," Larson told the ContraCosta Times. "Then Sept. 20 came, and it was snowing sideways. Then I got sick with pneumonia, and their team doctor didn't want to get me a shot of steroids. I decided to leave."

Juco Recruiting: Junior college recruits will play a big role in Cal's success this fall. Of the 10 junior college transfers on the roster, eight are listed first or second team.

Joe Ayoob, who is battling Nate Longshore for the starting quarterback job, is a junior college transfer. So are Bishop and Nu'u Tafisi, both second-team All-Pac-10 picks last year.

Cal will start four other former junior college players.

In Honor Of 22: Cal preseason All-American cornerback Daymeion Hughes his dedicating his season to injured senior cornerback Tim Mixon.

"Man, every down I play, I'll have 22 on my sleeve," Hughes said in a telephone interview.

Mixon suffered a season-ending knee injury in preseason. He and Hughes started at cornerback for the Golden Bears last season.

Tough Practices: Senior guard Erik Robertson said competition in practice has hastened the improvement of Cal's offensive line. He gives All-Pac-10 defensive linemen Brandon Mebane and Tafisi much of the credit.

"Those are the two hardest guys I've ever tried to block," Robertson said. "They force you to have perfect technique to be successful against them."

New Tradition: Although Mebane is a Los Angeles native and was highly recruited by Southern Cal, he chose Cal for a couple of reasons. One, he wanted to get away from home; two, "I wanted to start a great tradition somewhere else," he said.

Mebane, like Hughes, played at Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles. So did Cal freshman cornerback Darian Hagan and freshman fullback R.J. Garrett.