Gamecocks’ Brown pumped for chance at Vols, Kiffin

COLUMBIA — It’s no secret that Lane Kiffin has ruffled quite a few feathers since taking over at Tennessee last December.

And you can add Moe Brown to the list.

USC’s senior receiver and former Westside standout spoke out Tuesday about a comment Kiffin made during the recruitment of freshman receiver Alshon Jeffery.

Brown said Jeffery told the team that Kiffin commented to Jeffery that if he attended South Carolina he’d be pumping gas for a living.

“I didn’t find humor in that at all,” Brown said. “Actually, I took it kind of personally. I’m a South Carolina native as well as a student here at the University of South Carolina. I’m a 3.2 finance/marketing major and I feel I’m very intelligent. The last thing I’m going to be doing is pumping some gas after I get through at the university here.”

Kiffin has denied the allegations.

“I never said that to Alshon, nor would I say anything like that,” Kiffin said in March. “That’s just not something I would say.”

The controversy was stirred up again this week because the No. 21 Gamecocks (6-2, 3-2 SEC) are making a trip to Knoxville on Saturday to take on the Vols (3-4, 1-3) at 7:45 p.m. on ESPN.

Kiffin’s been outspoken since the beginning of his reign at Tennessee and has gone head-to-head through words with several SEC coaches, including USC’s Steve Spurrier.

SEC commissioner Mike Slive stepped in this summer after words were exchanged and told every coach in the league to cool it.

When asked Tuesday about what Kiffin has done at UT, Spurrier wasn’t biting.

“Oh, that’s for all you media people to comment on that,” he said. “I’m trying to worry about my own team here.”

Kiffin has said that he’s made many outlandish statements in order to attract attention, something Brown said he did understand.

“He’s done a good job bringing publicity to Tennessee. I guess you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” he said. “Some things are just better to go without saying, and I’m pretty sure he didn’t expect for (the gas comment) to come out, but it did.

“I’m taking it personally to the point where I’m going to show him how we do pump gas at South Carolina.”

Brown said there are no bulletin-board clippings of Kiffin’s comment in the locker room, but players have been talking about it in practice.

And Brown isn’t the only Gamecock ready to face Kiffin and the Vols this week.

“I think we have to prove him wrong with what he said, make him regret what he said,” USC defensive end and Georgetown native Clifton Geathers said.

NOTED

Brown, who suffered a concussion against Alabama two games ago, said he hasn’t had a headache since last Sunday and went through some practice Monday. He’s expected to start at Tennessee … Spurrier said that it’s clear to him that SEC officials have “struggled” making calls this season. He said the team turned in several bad calls from its game against Vanderbilt this past week, but “when you win the game you don’t worry about it too much.”