Thompson and Wommack, the last two coaches to call Arkansas' defensive plays, will be coaching on the other side of the field Saturday when the Razorbacks (2-5, 0-4 SEC ) play South Carolina (5-3, 3-3 ).

Both coaches' careers started at Arkansas as graduate assistants in the Lou Holtz era, overlapping in 1982. Those paths intersected again in the 1990 s when Thompson and Wommack concocted an unorthodox scheme and turned Southern Mississippi into a thorny defensive force.

Both eventually jumped to Arkansas, Thompson in 2000 and Wommack a year later. Wommack took over the defense when Thompson left to be Florida's coordinator in 2002. Wommack called the shots until being fired after last season, the same time East Carolina fired Thompson as head coach.

Weeks later, they reunited, this time at South Carolina. Thompson is co-defensive coordinator with Tyrone Nix, who was part of the old Southern Miss crew, and Wommack is defensive backs coach.

One more victory will make the Gamecocks bowl-eligible, one of Coach Steve Spurrier's preseason goals. Any emotional sway that Saturday's opponent might carry for the former Razorbacks coaches has to be compartmentalized but might be nearly impossible to ignore.

In the hours after South Carolina upset Tennessee 16-15 in Knoxville on Saturday night, returning to Reynolds Razorback Stadium crossed Thompson's mind and lodged there for a while.

"I was thinking it will be kind of different going back there against those guys," said Thompson, who's from Forrest City and graduated from the University of Central Arkansas. "I think about growing up as a kid what was my first [Razorbacks ] memory, all that stuff. But we've got to go take care of business."

"But it's going to feel different," said Wommack, whose son Kane is a walk-on fullback at Arkansas. "Probably on the plane ride over there I'll think of how it will be. It will feel awkward seeing all those [Arkansas players ].

" I look at it as a chance for a sixth victory because this is the next team we're playing and the focus is on stopping what they do best. Would I love to win it maybe more than any other game ? No doubt about it."

That doesn't mean Wommack is sticking pins into a Hog voodoo doll. He still talks to Coach Houston Nutt and said he wouldn't have let his son walk on this year if he didn't believe Arkansas was the best situation for him.

"I don't have any animosity toward Houston or anybody else there," Wommack said. "Did [being fired ] hurt me ? Absolutely. My family was happy there. But I understand the business, totally understand the business." Wommack said he believes he ran the defense the right way and 't have done anything difly to change its fortune.

nsas ranked 43 rd and ationally in total defense in Wommack's first two seasons as coordinator. The turnover totals of 36 and 33 those years remain the best of any in Arkansas' past 16 sons. Arkansas fell to 76 th in total defense last year and gained just 16 turnovers after graduation and early departures gutted the depth Using many of the same players in a different scheme this year, Arkansas ranks 76 th again in total defense. The team is on pace to force three more turnovers than ason.

he Thompson-Wommack-Nix reunion tour has had its ups and downs — South Carolina ranks 44 th in total defense, turning back passing games and struggling against the run — but it hasn't spawned any nicknames like The Three Amigos. "They've labeled us some things but I don't know about Three Amigos," Thompson said laughing. Those close relationships have helped ease the abrupt change in play-calling duties from Thompson to Nix that Spurrier ordered before the Tennessee game, Thompson said.

"We're trying to do what's best for this team," Thompson said. "He did a great job against Tennessee and we are all involved. Years ago it might have been an issue, but right now it's not."

One issue that has been hard to cleanly file away is East Carolina. The school went through a parade of interim presidents and athletic directors and fired Thompson after two seasons and a 3-20 record.

Not a day goes by that some thought about the East Carolina experience doesn't come to mind, Thompson said. He said he and his wife, Charleen, "gave our heart and soul at East Carolina and it was a bad situation to go through. We didn't win enough games. We didn't have enough time."

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