Vanderbilt kicker Bryant Hahnfeldt can probably appreciate the recent hype surrounding the Commodores a little bit more than most.

A Nashville native, Hahnfeldt remembers all too well when orange and white, not black and gold, dominated this city.

"We're the little guy, the underdog, whatever you want to call it, and it's always been an uphill fight against the Tennessee fans," Hahnfeldt said, "but that all started to change my freshman year when we beat them."

The transformation is even more pronounced now. No. 19 Vanderbilt (4-0, 2-0) finds itself alone atop the SEC East standings, while the reeling Vols (1-3, 0-2) sit at the bottom.

As Hahnfeldt put it, "Now we've got GameDay and they're doing what they're doing over there."

"Normally this is in Knoxville, or you hear about big things going on there," Hahnfedlt added, "and that's just showing what our program has done the past few years since coach Johnson has been here.

"Things are changing around here and it's big. It's big for us, it's big for the program, for the city itself. It's kind of going to unite everybody to come rally behind us, but we've still got to focus on the game at hand."

Hahnfeldt was a freshman when the Commodores started 4-0 only to finish 5-6, and he said the difference between the '05 and '08 squads is evident.

"I think we all just believe in each other," he said. "We've got the belief that we can do this, and if we get into a fourth-quarter situation where we need to pull it out, then we can do it, and it's kind of that belief within each other and a confidence that the guy next to is going to get the job done."

Confidence has been particularly key for Hahnfeldt, who has been perfect on all field goal and extra-point attempts this season. As a senior, Hahnfeldt said it was important for him to leave a mark on this program.

"It's my last year," he said. "I kind of look at like do I want to leave some sort of legacy here, or just be written off as whatever? I'm kind of taking it upon myself to do well for the team and leave something behind."

You get a sense that the rest of the players are trying to do the same.

"A lot of us came here wanting to change something," Hahnfeldt said. "We wanted to play in the best conference and we wanted to be the team that could take Vanderbilt to the next level, win the SEC, go to a bowl game, whatever.

"These are the steps we've taken the last few years and now everything's falling in line for us."

Hahnfeldt smiled when asked to describe what it'd be like if the Commodores came out victorious on Saturday night.

"The atmosphere is going to be great. The Star Walk going in has gotten bigger and bigger and this week I can imagine it's going to be fantastic," he said. "The students blacking out South Carolina was great and they're getting into it a lot more. I feel like it's going to be a fun game and if we pull out a win, it's going to be probably speechless a little bit."

And if he's the one who wins it?

"I do sit in bed and visualize kicks and me nailing a game-winner and whatnot," he said. "It'd be cool, national TV. Yeah, let's do it."