For center T-Bob Hebert, though, it's all about getting low and staying under the mountain.

Hebert, a 6-3, 282-pound sophomore center, has to play against Alabama senior Terrence Cody, a 6-5, 365-pound nose guard who eats double teams on Saturdays when he's not having field goals bounce off his meaty arms. "Mount" Cody, as he is called, was a consensus first team All-American for Alabama last season.

"In a situation like this, you have to go back to base fundamentals like staying low and driving your feet," Hebert said. "It's not going to be easy. Any time you're going against a guy like him, technique is key. I'm not going to be able to match him in the size category. So if I'm going to win, I'm going to have to win with technique."

The weight difference is about 80 pounds.

"I'd say that's a size advantage," said T-Bob's father Bobby Hebert, a former New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons quarterback who now works for WWL Radio in New Orleans.

"I told T-Bob the thing to do is to get into a chicken fight with him," Hebert said, meaning scratch and claw and do anything short of putting another lineman on his shoulders.

"If he's aggravated with you, then it's harder for him to make a play," Hebert said. "It's going to be a challenge. He's got to fight any way he can. He's Cajun like his daddy and his granddaddy and his relatives, so he'll be fighting, I know that. He's got to do what they call the crab block — stay low and aggravate him. I'm not saying to be dirty, but T-Bob's got to stay low against him and bother him and try different things."

Hebert has gone against mountain men in the past. In LSU's season opener he handled Washington 6-3, 348-pound defensive tackle Alameda Ta'amu.

"I don't think I've ever played against a guy as good as him (Cody)," Hebert said.

Cody does not make a lot of tackles. He had just 24 last season in 12 starts for 14th on the team with 4.5 for losses along with two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble, two quarterback hurries and half a sack. This season, Cody is 12th on the team with 17 tackles, including five for losses, two quarterback hurries and a pass breakup. He does lead Alabama in blocked field goals with two in the 12-10 win over Tennessee two weeks ago, including one on the final play of the game.

"I knocked the guard over and told myself, 'I'm going to do this,' " Cody said after the game.

That guard was Tennessee's Cory Sullins, who weighs about as much as Hebert.

"After I blocked that thing, I knew I was like a big hero," Cody said.

And he was right. The play will be mounted, so to speak, on canvas. Birmingham artist Daniel Moore, who has captured memorable Crimson Tide moments in the past, has announced he will produce a drawing of Cody's blocked field goal that beat Tennessee as time ran out. It will be titled, "Maximum Block."

Hebert, among LSU's leaders in knockdowns, does not want to be a part of any future art work or lead his team in getting knocked down on Saturday. So he is welcoming some assistance.

"With a guy like Terrence Cody, a lot of times a double team is involved," he said. "Me and Lyle Hitt (right guard) and Josh Dworaczyk (left guard) work well together on all those combo blocks."

Double and triple teams on Cody are reasons Alabama has the No. 2 rush defense in the nation with a slim 64.8 yards allowed a game and the No. 4 total defense in the nation with 240.8 yards allowed a game. Cody's main job is not to make tackles and block field goals. It is to swallow up blockers so others can make the tackle.

"He has a lot of double teams come his way because of his size and that does free myself up," said middle linebacker Rolando McClain, who leads Alabama in tackles with 57, including seven for losses, two sacks and seven quarterback hurries. "His main job is to keep some of those guys off of us, so we can make plays. But when the time comes, he is a very athletic guy, and he can defeat a blocker if it's a one-on-one block and make plays on his own."

Alabama offensive guard Mike Johnson knows that all too well. He has to do every day in practice what Hebert must do Saturday — line up across from Mount Cody.

"Too many times," said Johnson, who at 6-6 and 303 pounds still has plenty of trouble climbing the mountain. "It happens every week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We do an inside run drill, and I've had to go against him pretty often."

Johnson's advice to Hebert: "It would probably be to get on him before he gets on you. Once he gets 350 pounds of momentum going, it's pretty hard to stop the guy in his tracks. He is strong, and he is agile, and he is a freak for his size. He does a really good job of keeping guys off linebackers, and that's why he has been so valuable to our defense. Get on him before he gets on you is the best advice I can give anybody."

But that strategy has not really worked for Johnson.

"I'd pretty much say he has gotten the better of me," he said. "He outweighs me by a pretty good bit, and he is more agile than I am. So I'd say he probably rules that match-up."

Enlarge By Mark Almond, Birmingham News via AP Alabama's Terrence Cody (62) blocks a potential game-winning field goal by Tennessee kicker Daniel Lincoln.