Alabama has already played a number of big games this season, but there's a different feeling around Tuscaloosa when it's Tennessee week. 

The Crimson Tide will head to Knoxville this weekend for a top-10 matchup with the Vols. This historic rivalry has always held great significance in the Southeastern Conference, and the players understand how much it means.

"For us in-state kids, we know," Shaun Dion Hamilton said. "I grew up watching Alabama versus Tennessee since I was a little kid. Every third Saturday in October it was Tennessee week. It's going to be a great game and it's going to be fun playing in it."

The Alabama linebacker and Montgomery native ranks second on the team with 34 total tackles this year. He and the rest of the Crimson Tide defense will face a Vols team that rolled up 684 yards of total offense last week in a loss to Texas A&M.

"We know that the offense is going to compete for all four quarters by the games they've played this year. We've got a huge task at hand."

It's not just the Tennessee offense that's shown a knack for making comebacks. Butch Jones' team has been one of the most resilient teams in college football this season.

"We know that we're going to have to play a full 60 minutes from start to finish because they're a good team. You can't come out slow against them, and you can't lay down by the wayside at the end of the game because they've showed that they can come back in the third and fourth quarter. They get better as the game goes on."

Kickoff is set for 2:30 PM on CBS and Tide 102.9 will begin pregame coverage at 9:30 AM with the Tide Tailgate Show.

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