This story appears the Birmingham News college football preview section

UAB's return after a two-year hiatus is a national story going into this fall, but players get the sense that their opponents don't care.

Linebackers Shaq Jones and Tevin Crews have been through the Conference USA grind. The two stuck with the program after it was disbanded and reinstated in 2015 and are back as senior leaders.

Head coach Bill Clark also stayed and built a team with veterans, mostly transfers from junior colleges or FBS schools.

"The guys down the road are probably tired of hearing about us," Clark said. "One hundred and thirty teams. Everybody's working, everybody says they're going to be the best, in-shape team, this is their year. What we do we do that sets us apart?"

Even with UAB having a mature team, the Blazers were still picked last in Conference USA's West Division and national magazines feel that UAB will be one of the country's worst teams.

"We personally don't care about what people think," Jones said. "We know the work that we put in. What I try to tell people is that Bill Clark is our coach. As long as that man is in charge, we've got guys who are going to follow and give it all we've got."

Clark inherited a team with a shattered morale that finished 2-10 in 2013. His first season in charge ended with the Blazers going 6-6 and earning bowl eligibility despite rumors of the program's shutdown. That happened on Dec. 2, but president Ray Watts brought it back six months later.

"Everybody thinks about the cinderella story, but they're not all fond of it," Jones said. "They don't want to get beat by a team that hasn't played in two years."

Even Las Vegas oddsmakers don't have high expectations for UAB, setting its over/under win total at 2.5 wins.

"You open up a preseason paper and something like that, those guys who are supposed to know it all say we're supposed to win two games," Crews said. "That's their opinion. We know how hard we're working. Like Coach Clark always says, just come see us."

Who's back (2014 stats with UAB)

LB Shaq Jones, Sr. (50 tackles, 12.5 TFL, 3 sacks, INT)

LB Tevin Crews, Sr. (33 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 sacks)

CB Darious Williams, Sr. (23 tackles, 6 PBU, 1 INT)

SAF Jordan Petty, Jr. (29 tackles, 1 INT, FF)

Who's gone

QB Cody Clements, RB Jordan Howard, WR J.J. Nelson, LB Jake Ganus, TE Gerald Everett

The leader: LB Shaq Jones. The 6-foot-3, 250-pound JACK linebacker would have been invited to an NFL camp even if he had gone pro after the 2014 season. The fact that he's been through the highs and lows at UAB speaks volumes to a team on the comeback trail.

Get to know: RB James Noble III. UAB signed bigger names at the position, but things didn't work out with all of them. The former walk-on Noble stands just 5-foot-7 but has been UAB's most consistent running back since the Blazers started back practicing in 2016.

Pivotal game: at North Texas, Denton, Texas Sept. 23 - This is UAB's first Conference USA game and it's against a team coming off a bowl appearance and it's on the road. But UNT went just 5-8 last season. A win here would signal that UAB is back sooner than everyone outside the program expects.

Coachspeak: "We're playing to win. 'We're here to compete' vs. 'we're here to win' are two different thought processes. Our expectation level is to do all those things that it takes to win. The more guys who can get to that spot, the more guys you can play. It is a high expectation and I've told them over and over to be ready for that." - Clark on expectations

"There is no doubt. Just the urgency of knowing it's time to play has set everything up from the way we trained all summer. All the guys that were here did everything this summer they needed to get themselves ready to play and practice. We worked them really hard and they responded well." - Clark on the team's enthusiasm

2017 schedule

Date: Opponent/location, Time (TV)

Sept. 2: Alabama A&M/Birmingham, 2:30 p.m. (STADIUM)

Sept. 9: at Ball State/Muncie, Ind., 2 p.m. (ESPN3)

Sept. 16: Coastal Carolina/Birmingham, Noon (RAYCOM/WBRC)

Sept. 23: at North Texas/Denton, Texas, 5:30 p.m. (BeIN Sports)

Oct. 7: Louisiana Tech/Birmingham, TBA

Oct. 14: Middle Tennessee/Birmingham, 5:30 p.m. (BeIN Sports)

Oct. 21: at Charlotte/Charlotte, N.C., 5:30 p.m. (BeIN Sports)

Oct. 28: at Southern Miss/Hattiesburg, Miss., 6 p.m.

Nov. 4: Rice/Birmingham, TBA

Nov. 11: at UTSA/San Antonio, Texas, 6 p.m.

Nov. 18: at Florida/Gainesville, Fla., TBA

Nov. 25: UTEP/Birmingham, TBA