Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer still had some questions on his mind Friday afternoon.

Nearly a week after beating ninth-ranked California 35-18, Fulmer put the 11th-ranked Vols through a walkthrough stressing maturity and avoiding any kind of letdown tonight.

Unranked Air Force visits Neyland Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The game is available on pay-per-view television.

"I've asked our guys to maturely handle themselves during the course of the week coming off of a nice win," Fulmer said. "I'll be as anxious as you guys or anybody else to see if we act that way in our play.

"It should be an interesting game."

Fear of the unknown is foremost on Fulmer's mind. First, how does UT react to its first-week success? Second, just what is there to expect from Air Force?

"It's like another opening game," Fulmer said. "You never know what you're going to get because they haven't played and we haven't seen them.

"We don't know all about their personnel. We don't know all about the schemes they might use."

UT quieted some critics last week who said they hadn't won a big game at home in years. Now Fulmer doesn't want to see any kind of drop in performance level.

"We've talked a lot about playing at home and winning at home," he said. "We want to respect our opponent and fear no one. It's Team X. We want to play at the same level every Saturday. We'll see. I think we're ready to do that."

Boo Birds, or Cheer Orange?: One thing Fulmer made clear is he expects the same kind of fan reaction the Vols received a week ago against Cal.

"Our fans have been incredible and I think they will be again," he said. "We're calling on them to make sure they're loud and show the pride in the orange shirts.

"This can be a very fearsome place to play if we do our job on the field and the fans take their challenge in the stands."

Questions have been raised this week about the reception UT fans should give the Air Force.

Fulmer said he hadn't heard about the UT athletic department requesting fans to not "boo" the service academy, but he expects the fans to be on the side of the team in orange.

"I think they need to cheer against the other team for sure," he said. "Our people do a nice job of supporting the Vols and that's the main thing I want them to do."

Injury Update: Fulmer said linebacker Jerod Mayo would play and "probably" start tonight's game despite lingering ankle problems.

Wide receiver Bret Smith isn't expected to play unless there's an "emergency."

Fulmer wants the senior to recover as much as possible from a concussion suffered against Cal.

Last Time: This is the first meeting between Air Force and Tennessee since the 1971 Sugar Bowl, Fulmer's senior season at UT.

The Vols beat the Falcons 34-13 led by quarterback Bobby Scott's 22-of-40 passing for 288 yards and one touchdown.

Long Wait: Air Force hasn't played against an SEC opponent since beating Mississippi State 38-15 in the 1991 Liberty Bowl. The Falcons are 6-7 all-time versus the SEC.

Falcons' Focus: Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry doesn't seem too concerned about playing in front of 106,000 fans at Neyland Stadium.

"I don't care if they have 700,000 people there," DeBerry said at his press conference this week. "It's not going to bother (Air Force players).

"The field is still 100 yards long and we've played in big stadiums before."

The Falcons are 17-5 in season openers under DeBerry, including a 20-17 victory at Washington last season.

In 2004, Air Force opened the season with a 56-14 loss to No. 13-ranked California.

Balanced Option: The Falcons are know for their option running game, but Air Force had five games in 2005 in which it passed and rushed for at least 200 yards.

The Falcons finished eighth in the nation with 246.5 yards rushing per game in 2005. Tennessee was second in the nation in rushing defense, allowing 82.5 yards rushing by opponents.

"It'll be a test for our offense," DeBerry said. "I don't think we can run between the tackles all day and I don't think we can run outside all day. We've got to keep them off balance."

Containing Carney: Air Force junior quarterback Shaun Carney is climbing up the Falcons' record books.

He's already seventh in career total offense (4,014), ninth in passing yardage (2,708), seventh in TD passes (18) and 28th in rushing yardage (1,306).