Whether or not this week's showdown with the Indiana Hoosiers is to be the penultimate home game of Joe Paterno's career at Penn State remains to be seen.

I suspect this to be true. But I am not certain about it.

What is certain, however, is this: This week's game is the penultimate game of the Nittany Lions regular season. It is also the last Penn State game I'll be attending until 2009.

Which is sad, of course. But hey, all good things come to an end.

More to the point, the season is not over yet. Not even close. So this weekend, I plan to not only heartily celebrate the season that has been, but also celebrate the season that is—and the season that remains (like, hopefully, in Pasadena).

And I will celebrate in the best way possible: With good friends and family, in the beautiful place they call Happy Valley, in honor of America's greatest game.

I have written in this space many times before about how I spend my Penn State weekends. And so you likely won't be surprised at what the agenda holds for the weekend to come.

Yes, I am once more staying at The Autoport hotel, the greatest hotel in Central Pennsylvania. And yes, I will begin my weekend with pork slider sandwich and Victory Hop Devil (on tap) at The Autoport Lounge.

I will once again tailgate with my good friend Kris. As well his lovely wife, Lisa, our Indiana-grad friend Mike, my brother-in-law Bobby (if he's awake, of course), and assorted other folks as well. I will drink martinis with blue-cheese-stuffed olives in the shadow of Beaver Stadium. I will eat pork sausage products of mysterious origin. Me and my tailgate pals will listen to Willie Nelson. We will talk about all the things we usually talk about: the 1994 Nits; the 2005 Nits; the Rock incident back in '99; Curtis Enis; LaVar (no last name necessary). We'll tune in to Steve Jones and Jack Ham on the Penn State Tailgate Show.

We'll close up the tailgate and trudge to the stadium through slop and mud, chat with our fellow fans along the way, and enjoy that beautiful Happy Valley air. Which will be, as always, perfumed by cow manure. Wonderful smell, folks. Makes me feel like I'm home.

We'll watch the game and hope for a Penn State blowout. Except for Mike, of course.

We'll keep an eye out for JoePa, looking for signs that this might be it.

We'll keep an eye on Daryll Clark, looking for signs that he's recovered. Physically and mentally.

We'll keep an eye on the out-of-town scoreboard. We'll hope Illinois beats Ohio State. We'll hope Navy beats Notre Dame.

We'll (hopefully) celebrate a win. And then we'll celebrate the day, with a quick tour of our old favorite college haunts: The Phyrst; Cafe 210 West; Adam's Apple; Zeno's. Somewhere along the way, we'll eat. Then we'll keep going for as long as our aging bodies allow us. Except for Mike, of course, who never stops.

And then that will be it.

Sunday morning will arrive.

We'll say our good-byes and hop in our cars and begin the long drive home. And by Sunday night, we'll all have those awful Sunday night blues.

But at least we'll have made the trip. At least we'll have made the effort. We'll have seen the game. We'll have tailgated. We'll have had a lot of fun.

And we'll know that the next game is only six days away.

 

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Out And About: News And Notes You May Have Missed

• Charlie Weis is definitely not panicking. Of course he's not. Nevermind that he's facing real heat for the first time in his career at Notre Dame. Nevermind that he's failed to do any better than former Irish coaches Bob Davie and Gerry Faust (yes, Gerry Faust). Nevermind that he's 1-14 against teams with winning records. No, everything is hunky-dory in South Bend. Which is why, of course, athletic director Jack Swabrick this week felt compelled to publicly state that The Arrogant One's job is most definitely not in jeopardy. "It's not," Swabrick said. "It can't be, because I'm not engaged in thinking about that. That's not the way we approach this. The answer is: It's not." Nope, not at all. Nothing to see here, folks. Meanwhile, because Weis isn't worried one bit, he's also announced this week that he will basically restructure the way his staff operates on gameday, telling reporters that he will once again become the team's main play caller. Now, ostensibly this is because offensive coordinator Mike Haygood in missing this week's game because of a death in the family (our condolences to Mike) and somebody has to take his place. But then again, consider this, folks: When Weis was asked this week if Haygood would resume playcalling duties upon his return ... he refused to comment.

• As you folks probably know by now, Your Editor has a soft spot for college football's Old Guard—the teams that form the bedrock of the sport: Alabama and Notre Dame, Army and Navy, Texas and ... Penn State. And despite the fact that Nebraska unjustly stole the 1994 national title from the Nittany Lions, Your Editor is actually quite fond of that program, too. The Huskers have pretty much everything an old-school college program should have: Those old-school unis. Some of the best, most loyal and most welcoming fans in the country. And a location roughly equidistant from the worst college football cities on the planet (New York City and Los Angeles). I mean, Nebraska has a lot going for it. The one thing the Huskers don't have of late, unfortunately, is enough good football players. The team has been mediocre-bordering-on-bad for the better part of the past half-decade, and this week, we learned just how far this program has fallen: New coach Bo Pelini, after having not awarded any traditional "blackshirts" to his defensive players all year, made a great spectacle of finally handing out those treasured jerseys—symbolic of great defensive achievement—to 10 supposedly deserving players. The problem? Nebraska gave up 422 yards and 35 points in a loss to Kansas last week. Kansas! Explained Pelini, while grasping at straws: "We thought the physical nature of the play on Saturday, the great effort our guys made running sideline to sideline, we felt that was a performance where they earned the Blackshirts." That's horrible.

 

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Quick Hits: Straight And To The Point

• Another note about Nebraska coach Bo Pelini handing out 11 "blackshirts" to his defense even though that defense is terrible: When pressed further as to why he would award abject mediocrity, Pelini told reporters that the defense on Tuesday had one of its best "practices" of the season. "There were like 12 interceptions today," cornerback and blackshirt recipient Armando Murillo said in agreement. "I'm serious." To quote the great A.I.: "Practice? We're talking about practice? Not a game. Not a game. Not a game. We're talking about practice." That is the greatest two minutes in sports history.

• By the way, Nebraska is currently ranked 89th in the country in scoring defense.

• For reasons that continue to elude me, former Oakland Raiders (snore) coach Lane Kiffin, who has accomplished nothing, continues to be a hot commodity on the coaching market. Reports this week are that Kiffin interviewed for the Clemson job. He will also be a candidate for the jobs at Tennessee and Washington. But I have to ask: Why? The guy has never been a head coach at the college level. In the NFL (snore), he went 5-15. His greatest achievement is serving as Peter Carroll's offensive coordinator in 2005. But really, how hard could it be to run an offense with Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart?

• If there is one reason why Illinois might have at least a shot at upsetting Ohio State this week, it is their passing game. The Illini can't stop anyone on defense and they can't run the ball when it counts, either. But they still Juice Williams, and they still have Aurellius Benn, and as a result they have more plays of more than 20 yards than any team in the Big Ten this year. In fact, they have 39. Ohio State is good at a lot, but one thing they're not good at is playing catch-up. That Buckeye offense is built to run, not pass. If Illinois strikes early -- I would guess they'll try and pick on the overrated Buckeye safeties -- this one could get interesting.

• Speaking of Juice Williams: He's thrown for 2,769 yards this year. Colt McCoy of Texas has thrown for 2,879. Just sayin'. Said Illinois coach Ron Zook: "When he's playing the way he's capable of playing, I think he has a chance to be an awfully good player."

• Now we turn to The False Information Department. USC tailback and former five-star super-recruit Broderick Green this week said he would leave the Trojans. And he said it has nothing to do with his lack of playing time. Green says he has family issues back home in Arkansas. Said Green: "I don't care about football compared to my family. My family comes first." That being said, Green told the Los Angeles Times that he is considering a transfer to such destinations as Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana State and Tennessee. None of which are all that close to Arkansas.

• One of my alert readers (hint: My Dad) informed me this week that I had erred when I mentioned in Monday's edition that I had been listening to Mahler's 40th Symphony during my Sunday post-loss mopey phase. And I erred, it turns out, because (according to my Dad), Mahler did not actually compose 40 symphonies. The problem? I added an extra zero while typing. So please note, folks, I was actually listening to Mahler's 4th Symphony. My Dad has officially been named TCFA Classical Music Critic.