Photo

Click on photo to enlarge

Associated Press

South Carolina's Alshon Jeffery (1) and Moe Brown celebrate Jeffery's touchdown against South Carolina State, Oct. 3 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia.

COLUMBIA — South Carolina wide receiver Moe Brown says he's ready to show Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin "how we do pump gas at South Carolina."

That rallying cry comes from Gamecocks wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, who has said Kiffin tried to change his mind about his choice of college by telling him he'd end up pumping gas for the rest of his life like other South Carolina high school players who stay in state.

Kiffin has denied saying it, and Jeffery wouldn't talk to reporters Tuesday about the incident, which was first reported by ESPN.com last March.

But Brown said the freshman told his teammates the comment was true.

"I'm a 3.2 finance marketing major. I feel that I'm very intelligent," said Brown, who played his high school football about 115 miles up the road in Anderson. "Last thing I'm going to be doing is pumping some gas after I get though with the university."

Although Brown said the comment hasn't gone up on a bulletin board, it has been discussed in the locker room.

"I think we have to prove him wrong for what he said, make him regret what he said," said Gamecocks defensive end Clifton Geathers who also played high school ball in South Carolina.

Jeffery was a highly sought recruit from Calhoun County High School, not far from South Carolina's Columbia campus. Before his senior year in high school, he committed to Southern California.

But over the next several months, Jeffery started to waver. The night before signing day, the Trojans were fighting with the Gamecocks and Volunteers, but South Carolina came out ahead.

Jeffery played little until No. 21 South Carolina's 28-26 win over Kentucky on Oct. 10, coming off the bench to catch seven passes for 138 yards and three touchdowns. A week later, Jeffery made his first start. In his past three games he has 19 catches for 382 yards and four TDs.

Kiffin said he put a lot of time into recruiting Jeffery because he thought the freshman receiver was going to be a great player.

"He'd be playing a ton for us if he was here," Kiffin said.

Jeffery was asked after last week's win over Vanderbilt whether the recruiting incident would give him extra motivation against Tennessee. He said he simply planned to approach them as just the next opponent.

"Hopefully, we come out with a win first," he said. "If I have a great game, I have a great game."