DeMarco McNeil knows all about labels.

When he first reported to Auburn in August 2000, there was concern that the young defensive tackle did not read the labels at the grocery story carefully enough.

But after his first season in the Southeastern Conference, one which saw the Prichard, Ala., native record 67 tackles and five quarterback sacks, McNeil was labeled as the latest in a line of great defensive tackles to play for Tommy Tuberville.

Comparisons to Russell Maryland and Jerome Brown, players at Miami during Tuberville's tenure with the Hurricanes, might be premature, but that label was certainly more pleasing than the one concerning his girth.

"With the attention you get, people are going to try to play their best game against you," McNeil said. "It's up to me to step it up."

Still, the label that motivates McNeil is one that was given to him -- albeit privately -- by the former coaching staff at Alabama, the program that McNeil grew up wanting to play for: "Too short."

McNeil, who is listed at 6-1, 301 pounds, still bristles at the memory almost two years later.

"It's not about the size of the dog in the fight," McNeil said. "It's about the size of the fight in the dog. For people to label me as too short ... it had to be more than that why they didn't recruit me. If they just looked at film and compared me to the next person, obviously in some cases, I was the better player."

McNeil, who was selected to the All-SEC Freshman and Freshman All-American teams after last season, started all 13 games and became a consistent nuisance in opposing backfields.

Of McNeil's 67 tackles, 51 were unassisted and 13 were behind the line of scrimmage. He also forced one fumble and recovered two others.

McNeil, who reported to Auburn out of shape after his high school career, has changed his body, spending extra time on the weights.

"I've physically changed some, but I haven't lost any weight," McNeil said, laughing.

"I've just toned it up. I've probably gained a couple of pounds. Probably for the better."

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