SAVANNAH, TENN --- Very few major events occur in tiny Savannah, Tenn., during the course of a typical year. But a very big event is happening this weekend.

The Rumble on the River, the nickname given to Saturday's NAIA national title football game, features defending champion Carroll College against the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers.

The Rangers have also played in the title game before and have experienced the warm Southern hospitality doled out by the people of Savannah, in addition to the hundreds of volunteers from surrounding Hardin County who contribute time and energy to help with the event.

Saints fans traveling to Savannah for the first time are in for a treat. For them, Worleybird Cafe co-owner Teresa Fitch has this message.

"Thank you very much for coming and I hope they enjoy it," she said while keeping her fingers crossed the weather cooperates. "I hope it doesn't rain."

The Tennessee rain is something last year's Carroll College squad experienced full throttle while touring the 5,000-seat Jim Carroll Stadium a few days before the game. The heavy downpour cut short the tour and sent the team sprinting for the buses.

This year, the gameday forecast calls for sunshine and temperatures in the 50s.

Fitch and numerous other local business people will be wearing Saints and Rangers team T-shirts as a show of support for both squads on Saturday. The shirts are supplied to the business owners by Team Hardin County, the local group that sponsors the game.

It's one of many small gestures outsiders will notice from the Savannah residents -- all 7,500 of them.

"We love having them (football fans)," Fitch said. "Everyone looks forward to ya'll coming."

The local high school also gets into the act, according to principal Bob McAdams. The 140-member marching band will perform at halftime.

According to McAdams, the band practices several times a week "to stay sharp."

Game activities aren't just reserved for the band. Local high school football players are recruited to help carry television equipment on the sideline, and the school's coaches are responsible for painting the endzones in checkerboard in school colors and the NAIA logo at midfield. That process takes at least two days to complete, but it's all part of the massive community effort needed to host the game each year.

Also, shuttle buses are lined up to transport media and fans from nearby hotels to the various activities throughout the week and to the game.

That service proved critical last year when this reporter watched helplessly from the Jim Carroll press box as the Saints team buses drove away following the game, leaving him stranded.

A quick call on a cell phone to shuttle bus driver Freddy Blount saved the day, as Blount and several Saints fans were luckily still in town before making the trip back to Memphis to catch the chartered plane.

Blount, a local farmer, and many others donate their time to help put on the game which is a major factor in helping to keep the expenditures low. The game costs about $150,000 to put on, but it does bring in plenty of exposure and an estimated $2.5 million into the community, said THC chief executive officer Jerry Hunt.

Hundreds of corporate sponsors donate every year to cover those costs, including one contribution this year by local country music singer and Savannah's most famous resident, Darryl Worley.

According to Hunt, the Darryl Worley Foundation kicked in a modest $2,500 this year. That money was raised in September during the 2nd annual Tennessee River Run, which in its short history has brought in other big country music names, including Trace Adkins, Mark Wills and Chely Wright.

The three-day event includes a golf tournament, fishing derby, a concert, poker run and a 5K race. All the money goes to Worley's foundation benefitting numerous organizations such as the St. Jude's Children's Hospital, the March of Dimes and various Hardin County groups in need of support. According to the Worley's Web site, the event brought in $100,000 this year.

Worley's most recognizable hit "Have You Forgotten?" went all the way to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country list and stayed there for seven weeks earlier this year.

Another popular song, "I Miss My Friend," released in July 2002, also topped the charts. Worley has lived in Savannah his entire life and married his wife, Beverly, three years ago.

The Worleybird is Worley's namesake establishment; Beverly co-owns the business with Fitch. The two split work days during the week and both take a shift on Sunday. The business opens every day at 5 a.m. except Sundays, when it opens at 8 a.m.

The two have been best friends for the past decade and recently purchased land to build a new Worleybird. The current edition holds only 13 tables, but the new building will also be able to house even more Darryl Worley posters, photos, and memorabilia.

The collection is constantly being updated the more popular Worley becomes.

Beverly Worley, also a Savannah native, and Fitch met while working at nearby Pusser's Restaurant. Beverly's been in the business 17 years and Fitch nearly as long.

"There's is nothing in the restaurant business we haven't done," Fitch said.

It's that confident, down-home Southern attitude that has made the Worleybird and the NAIA title game a success. This comes as no surprise to Worley. "Most of the people here (in Savannah) are down to earth and easy to get along with," she said. "They'd give you the shirt off their backs."