Had to shift my attention to basketball yesterday afternoon, but haven’t forgotten there’s a little football game coming up tomorrow night in Razorback Stadium. I’m finishing up work for tomorrow’s paper, so you know what that means: There’s plenty of extra notes and quotes about the Georgia game that won’t make it in print.

So it’s time to clean out the notebook:

1. First up, got a little note from our interview with Arkansas safety Matt Harris on Monday. He was asked if the defense was a little disappointed they never got to face former Georgia QB Matt Stafford. Harris told us he did play against Stafford in high school.

“We’re both from the Dallas area,” Harris said. “I played him when he was at Highland Park. When I played him, he was a sophomore and I knew he was going to go to the NFL. I committed to Arkansas, he committed to Georgia that next year and I figured I might have another shot at him. I was one year off if he didn’t leave. It’s kind of disappointing, but to not play against a guy like Stafford does take a little pressure off of you.”

2. CB Rudell Crim has his first game as a Razorback under his belt. But Crim – a JUCO transfer – is getting ready for his first taste of SEC ball Saturday. I talked to Crim for a few minutes Wednesday and the last question I asked was this: Are you getting any sleep?

Apparently, he isn’t. There may be some visions of Georgia WR A.J. Green dancing in his head.

“It’s not easy to sleep, honestly,” Crim said. “You just have to try to stay humble to yourself and try to get as much rest as you can. Right now everybody is so excited and pumped up about this big first SEC game, conference game. It can be overwhelming but you have to force yourself to stay calm and get some sleep.”

3. Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said some funny things Wednesday. Like his “they don’t know who the hell I am” response to a question about whether he knew anyone on Georgia’s staff. But one thing that didn’t create a laugh is worth nothing. Robinson was asked what he thought was different about the ‘Dawgs offense in their second game. Short answer: Quick screens.

“Their run game hasn’t changed much, but their pass game became more accessible for their quarterback to be able to manage it,” Robinson said. “A lot of screens to a lot of different players. A lot of quick game. You can make explosive gains off of quick game. You’ve got to be able to tackle the catch. … The quick game, the screens, it made it so much easier for the quarterback to manage it.”

4. It didn’t really fit into anything I was writing, but Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino was asked about Ryan Mallett on the SEC Teleconference on Wednesday. Specifically, he was asked if he could compare Mallett to any other quarterback he has coached.

“It’s hard to compare him because he’s so different,” Petrino said. “I’ve never coached a guy this tall before or a guy that has the arm strength that he has. I’ve been happy with his progress. He’s done a nice job. He’s a great student of game. He works extremely hard at it. Since he’s been here, he’s dropped from 265 pounds down to 238 so he’s really taken a lot of responsility in getting his body ready to play. And he came out and had a good game the first game.”

5. Well Rested vs. Battle Tested. It’s a topic we explored in a story we wrote earlier this week. Petrino was asked about it a little more on the teleconference Wednesday. Petrino said advantage Georgia. He said Arkansas must adjust quickly to the speed of the game.

“There’s a concern,” Petrino said. “When we see what we opened up with and the opponent that we played, we did play well. They’re not same quality teams as an Oklahoma State and a South Carolina. I think that gives Georgia the advantage in the fact that they’ve been in hard fought game and very fast and physical game. What we have to do is make sure we understand what getting ourselves into and we come out and be aggressive early and adjust to speed quickly.”

6. We know that Georgia has been impressive on the road in SEC games under Richt. Honestly, you can’t ask for anything more than a 24-4 record in an eight-year span. So why is Georgia so good in road games? Richt said it has to do with quarterback play.

“The one player who has to weather the storm is your quarterback,” Richt said. “Your defense doesn’t have to worry about it much. Not only handle noise and communication, but feeling if something goes a little bad the whole world is against him.”

Richt has had some pretty good ones in David Greene, D.J. Shockley and Stafford. How will Joe Cox fare?

7. A lot has been said about Green already. Clearly, the matchup with Arkansas’ DBs will be one to watch. But defensive end Jake Bequette said the defensive line will have plenty of responsibilities, too, knowing there’s a big-play threat outside.

“It gives us extra motivation to get back there because we know what an excellent player he is,” Bequette said. “It’s very obvious when you turn on the film who No. 8 is and what he can do. As defensive ends and defensive tackles, we’re going to have get back and put some pressure on No. 14.”

8. Finally, the last thing I’ll write is a quote I didn’t get to use from running back Michael Smith. Clearly, everybody realizes this is a big game for Arkansas’ season. Win this and the goal of winning every home game becomes more legitimate. Lose it and you just might have to be kicking and clawing to make sure you’re bowl eligible at the end of the year.

Smith was asked about his thoughts on Saturday’s stakes for the Razorbacks.

“If we’re going to have a big year we need to come out and win every game,” Smith said. “Making sure that we win every game. It starts right here with Georgia. There’s a lot riding on it. We have to make sure we come out and execute, we come out and compete, and most of all, just finish and come out with a win.”