With the opener approaching, the OU boss is getting that tingling feeling.

"Unrest," Bob Stoops said. "And that's good."

Stoops still gets butterflies and goose bumps, even with UT-Chattanooga lining up on the other side.

"All of it," as he described Tuesday at the first of his weekly media luncheons for the 2008 season.

Of course, he feels it opening day.

The Sooners enter the Saturday night contest ranked No. 4 in both the coaches' USA Today Top 25 and the media's Associated Press Top 25. They're coming off their second straight Big 12 championship, but also for the second straight season, a loss handed them at the Fiesta Bowl.

The Mocs likely don't belong in the same stadium as OU, coming off a 2-9 season, including a 2-5 mark in the Football Championship Subdivision's (formerly Division I-AA) Southern Conference. Chattanooga's greatest claim to fame achieved last year on field was not getting crushed by Appalachian State, the program that beat Michigan in Ann Arbor before going on to win its second straight FCS national championship. The Mocs fell 37-17.

The Sooners are coming off a preseason seemingly nearly issue and injury free. The first part of that might be attributed to the fact Stoops kept media away from all practices and scrimmages the last three weeks. However, the lack of injuries is the Sooners' own doing. Linebacker Austin Box is the only presumed starter who won't play Saturday, while Quinton Carter, a defensive back is also unavailable.

Stoops made it sound like both should be ready for OU's Sept. 6 showdown with Cincinnati.

Since coming to OU, Stoops is 8-1 in season openers, losing only to TCU in the 2005 opener. The coach begins his 10th season in Norman needing three victories to reach 100 wins against 22 losses.

Copyright (C) 2008 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.