Staff File Photo by Patrick Smith Florida Gators tight end Tate Casey is tackled by University of Tennessee defenders Nick Reveiz (56) and Quintin Hancock (87) during the second half of last season's game at Neyland Stadium. Florida won 30-6. Tennessee host Memphis today.

KNOXVILLE -- Momentum has turned toward the University of Tennessee football team.

The Volunteers are merely 4-4 after eight games, but recent performances have led to some forecasts of a January bowl game for them.

A close loss at still-undefeated Alabama sandwiched between comfortable wins over Georgia and then-No. 21 South Carolina has put the Vols in prime position for a strong finish against the weakest part of their schedule.

UT's final four regular-season foes -- starting tonight against Memphis (2-6) -- have a combined 13-20 record. The Vols' final three Southeastern Conference opponents have a 3-12 record in league play.

Things are looking up for first-year coach Lane Kiffin's program, but he has been in no mood to reflect this week.

Six prominent positions were reopened for competition this week on the practice field, where was posted, along with the locker room, several copies of a joke Memphis coach Tommy West made about Kiffin early this week. It was an old joke in which West, a former Vols tight end and baseball player, plugged in Kiffin as a man selling a talking dog for $5 because it was a liar.

The Vols went through full-speed special-teams drills and tackled the return specialists, an almost-unheard-of November practice occurrence.

"Building a championship program like we want to build, obviously you want to capitalize on the little things," senior quarterback Jonathan Crompton said. "That's a good thing, because we want to go undefeated in November. That's the goal of every team, because that's the hard stretch, that's where all the hard work from summer and camp pays off.

"We're really taking pride in it, because if we finish 8-4, we've accomplished a lot, especially considering we lost two close ones to No. 1 teams in the country."

Memphis doesn't seem to have the same party-crashing potential it's had in recent years, but the Tigers often bring their best against the Knoxville team.

UT has lost just once in 21 games against Memphis, but the Vols have escaped late with several of those victories.

"Memphis, they love playing us, especially in here," Crompton said. "It's going to be a great game. We expect their best effort, and we expect to give our best effort. We know they're going to come in here and play lights out, especially for their coach, so we've got to control the only thing we can control, and that's us."

Senior weakside linebacker Rico McCoy noted the one loss and several close calls UT has had in this series, adding that "underestimating this guys would be a big mistake. But that's why we're not doing that. We expect to come out there and match their intensity and play good football and get the win. We've come too far here recently to start going back in the other direction now. It's time to finish.

"Like I said after the (South Carolina) game, that was just the first of our ducks in a row. It's time to really get thing rolling and play Tennessee football."

But even some of UT's best teams have struggled against the Tigers. The late-season timing of this nonconference, homecoming game has proven a high hurdle for the Vols in the past.

Linebackers coach Lance Thompson loudly told his players earlier this week to disregard Memphis's record and statistics.

"I don't care what their record is! This is a good football team!" Thompson yelled. "And the sooner y'all realize that, the better!"

Defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said he was "shocked" at the Tigers' offensive skill on tape.

"I don't think people know that," Monte said. "I didn't know who these guys were until I watched them on film, and then I go and look at the last three games' stats, and ... wow. I couldn't believe their quarterback was that good. I really couldn't. I know everybody thinks I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. And their receivers are unbelievable.

"I don't care who we were playing, I would never tell our players, 'These guys aren't any good,' because I don't care who you're playing, you can get beat. But it's a fact that these guys are good."

Lane Kiffin made similar remarks earlier in the week, and he backed up his promise by putting the Vols through a particularly physical set of practices.

"Well this is a big game for us this week, an intrastate rivalry," Lane said. "We know they're going to come to play. I'd imagine this is the biggest game of the season for them, with a bunch of Tennessee kids on their roster. We don't have to look any further than the last time they came in here. They almost beat Tennessee. Go all the way back to a Peyton Manning-led team that Memphis was able to beat -- a really good Tennessee team.

"Our guys will be well aware of that. We'll make sure guys understand we need to continue to improve and get ready for a tough game."

Other contacts for Wes Rucker are www.twitter.com/wesrucker and www.facebook.com/tfpvolsbeat.