• Next victim, please. First, your obligatory Phil Fulmer Intro:

With easy target Ty Willingham officially done at Washington, and Greg Robinson virtually fired already at Syracuse, the instatiable rumormongering and week-by-week status checks turns full force on Fulmer, who has at least one very specific guideline if he has any chance to return to Tennessee in 2009, according to a pair of anonymous sources in the Knoxville News-Sentinel:

No formal decision has been made regarding Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer's future, an anonymous source who would be involved in such a decision told the News Sentinel on Monday, two days after the Vols lost to No. 2 Alabama in Neyland Stadium and fell to 3-5 overall.
[...]
A second source close to the program said a win over Alabama last week would have strongly bolstered Fulmer's chances to be retained next season, especially if UT went on to win its four remaining games.

That source said a 6-6 record would result in a coaching change, adding that Fulmer would not be guaranteed to save his job if the Vols go 7-5 this season.

The schedule has always been kind to Phil in November, which makes the "softer" side of the slate a double-edged sword under these conditions: the best the Vols can do is 7-5, which means a four-game winning streak against South Carolina, Wyoming, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. Any losses there -- and three of those teams currently have better records than UT overall and in the SEC -- and the best bet is Fulmer being shown the door.

• Yes, I'm very interested in my rigatoni, I mean, that job you mentioned. The Associated Press tracked down Lane Kiffin at his house Monday night to ask him about his interest in the Washington job, and gauged from this response that he's very interested:

"The University of Washington is a great job, one that I’m sure a lot of people have an interest in," Kiffin told The Associated Press while watching Monday Night Football at his home in the Bay Area.

I dunno. If that's the best they got from him, it's worth throwing Kiffin's name in the hat along with all the other familiar names, but I read "leave me alone" at least as strongly as "I am interested in this job." If Lane's not used to it already, he'd better be ready to say every job that comes open over the next month is "a great job," because apparently he's going to be asked about every one of them.

Meanwhile, Kiffin's old colleague, USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian expressed actual interest in the job: "It's a great place. If they called, I'd have to assess it."

• Crispety, crunchety, untenable at quarterback. Georgia Tech has fumbled 26 times in eight games, and lost 14, both the worst numbers in the ACC and among the highest in the nation. How does Paul Johnson fix the butterfingers?

"I don’t know," said Johnson, when asked if the team’s inexperience was a factor. "[Heck], if I knew, we wouldn’t fumble."

Actually, the fumbling problem was better in Saturday's loss to Virginia, the first time the Jackets have fumbled fewer than three times all season. But the two Tech did lose were both in Virginia territory, one of them at the Cavs' five-yard line. Johnson wouldn't put it on serial fumbler Josh Nesbitt, but he did suggest there might be a faster hook for Jaybo Shaw if Nesbitt loses another one against Florida State.

Quickly ... T. Boone Pickens' bottomless pockets come up with another $63 million for Oklahoma State. Whatever they need, you know? . . . Dave Wannstedt said changes are coming to Pitt's lineup after the Panthers' awful defensive effort against Rutgers, and refused to name a starting quarterback for Saturday's game at Notre Dame. . . . East Carolina is decimated by injuries and a couple suspensions. . . . Vote for the Atlanta-Journal Constitution's best Larry Munson impression. . . . And whatever you do, don't click here.