Tennessee was the latest team to present the Nebraska Cornhuskers with a commemorative Sam Foltz jersey. The Tennessee No. 27 was signed by members of the Volunteers and presented to the NU special teams.

The Huskers are wearing stickers honoring those involved in the forest fires near Gatlinburg, Tenn., which claimed the lives of 14 people.

Both coaches, Mike Riley of Nebraska and Butch Jones of Tennessee, spoke of the importance of honoring those while acknowledging the blessing of playing a game.

Riley: "I know we appreciate Tennessee wearing the SF27 sticker on their helmet. It means a lot to everybody in Nebraska that this tragedy that we had right before the season started with Sam passing away rocked everybody in the state. This event has occurred in every game for us this year. So we're thankful for people reaching out and caring. We're thankful for Tennessee doing it.



As we watched and heard and learned about Gatlinburg and the Gatlinburg area, about the Mountain Tough symbol theme, we're proud to be able to wear that as a thought for all these people that have gone through so much here in the state."

Jones: "I just think it's a great illustration of the respect of what both programs have for each other, but also for our players and everything that goes along with it. There's so much more to it than just football.



For them to wear the Mountain Tough, obviously Gatlinburg is a big part of who we are, been very, very fortunate for all of our bowl experiences to be able to go spend an afternoon or an evening in Gatlinburg. The whole state means so much to us.



I think that's the least that we can do. We had planned to do this awhile back, but Aaron Medley had first initially come to me and requested to do it. We already made the decision to do that.



Again, it's all about life, the respect that we have. Again, I think it's what college football's all about. I don't know if there's any other two teams in the country that are respecting what's gone on in the respective programs like Tennessee and Nebraska have done."