Even though they have moved up to 14th in the Associated Press poll, Coach Joe Paterno says that the Lions are "not even in Alabama's class."

Last year, Penn State went to Birmingham and was held to only a field goal in an 8-3 loss to the Crimson Tide. The offense managed just 169 total yards against the Tide's stingy defense.

At 2:30 tomorrow afternoon in Beaver Stadium, the Lions (5-1) will face an undefeated (6-0) and sixth-ranked Alabama team which, according to Paterno, comes into this season's game better than last season.

"A couple of weeks ago (against Syracuse), we heard everybody saying this is the big game for us," Blair Thomas said. "This is the biggest game of the season. This is what you come to college for as an athlete -- to play in the big football games."

Last season Tony Sacca completed only 8-of-28 passes for 98 yards, was sacked three times (once for a safety) and was intercepted once to lead the sputtering offense.

Paterno said that Sacca is still the starting quarterback. He has completed 30-of-75 passes for 416 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions.

"If the same thing happens to him this year that happened last year, he might not show up on Monday," Paterno said. "I think he's better prepared for some things that happened to us last year.

"I think he's ready to play well," he continued. "I came away from the Syracuse game feeling very strong in that area. That's not to say that he's not going to miss passes. I don't think you can be that good overnight. He's been better than at any time this year."

Thomas comes into the game with 642 yards on 115 carries. He is rested after a two-week layoff and said the hip injury that limited his playing time against Syracuse has healed.

"I think I'll get more carries -- at least I hope so," Thomas said, grinning. "I can get better if I get more carries, and hopefully throughout the rest of the season I'll get more carries."

The offense has sputtered this season, but the defense has allowed only 7.3 points a game, best in the nation. The players, however, think they have not yet peaked defensively.

"We (the defense) are definitely getting closer to becoming a better team each week," linebacker Geoff Japchen said. "We still need some improvements, and we can always get better. But we're doing a lot better now."

"The defense has come along more than we've expected," defensive tackle Frank Giannetti said. "We thought we'd be behind the offense, but we got together as a defense and said, 'Hey we can play with any team in the country.'"

The defense will have to play its best this week because of the Crimson Tide's high-powered passing offense. Senior quarterback Gary Hollingsworth completed a record 32 passes for 379 yards in a 47-30 victory over Tennessee last week.

"You have to be concerned with him," tri-captain Andre Collins said. "They have a great passing attack, and they use their tight end a lot. We're doing some things in practice this week to try and prepare for that, but they have a sound passing attack."

The Penn State defense should be even more concerned about the running attack, which is led by 5'11", 195-pound junior Siran Stacy, who scored four touchdowns and accumulated 317 all-purpose yards last week.

"I've been keeping an eye on him over the weeks," Collins said. "He's a surprise, he's a big-play player. He's come on strong the past couple of weeks. We have to keep one eye on him and one eye on Hollingsworth."

Even though the Crimson Tide lost All-American Derrick Thomas to graduation, the defense is still tough, giving up only 79.8 yards per game on the ground and 187.8 in the air.

"Looking at them on film, they're very aggressive and throw a lot of things at you," Thomas said. "That's their style of play, and I don't see them as a tough football team as far as physically."

"Alabama makes it difficult to have any kind of continuity," Paterno said. "They play more fronts than any other defensive team we've played year in and year out. They use all kinds of looks, they pressure you, they blitz you and last year they made life miserable for our quarterback. And I would expect to see the same this year."

The defense is now led by 6'5", 256-pound linebacker Keith McCants, who Paterno says is even better than Derrick Thomas.

"He's a great player," Paterno said. "He's bigger and he runs just as well. You may see two of the best inside linebackers in the country on Saturday in Collins and McCants."

The Alabama game starts a hectic end-of-the-season schedule in which the Lions play four teams in the Top 15.

"I think playing the tough teams we have to play should make us better," Paterno said. "I feel much more comfortable going into this part of the season than I did last year, because we're better. That does not mean we're good enough for this stretch run.

"It should be a fun period," he continued. "Last year was a very difficult time for us. We have a tough stretch down the road, but nobody will get bored."