If the men's gymnastics team wants to play "Can you top that?" with itself when it travels to Michigan State this weekend, its work is cut out for it.

Last weekend, the Lions posted a 282.20 against Illinois-Chicago, their highest score in the last two years.

Also, that score put the Lions among the nation's leaders. Top-ranked Nebraska has scored in the 283 range to date. More importantly, among Eastern teams, the Lions are now in the thick of things. Minnesota, Ohio State and Iowa, ranked first, second and third in the East, respectively, have all scored between 280 and 282 during the season.

"It was the best meet of 25 seasons here at Penn State," Coach Karl Schier said. "We had no inkling it was going to occur. We were thinking it's in the afternoon, the guys seemed tired, and them Bam! It's hard to say what we'll do for an encore."

However, the team hopes its encore will come in East Lansing. Michigan State is ranked fifth in the East, directly behind the Lions. The Spartans are 3-4 on the year and finished fifth out of a field of seven at the Big 10 Championships.

On paper, the Lions have the advantage. Michigan State's top score to date is a 275.90 and the team's top all-arounder, Nick Westermeyer, has tallied a season-high 55.75. Both Mike Masucci and Wayne Cowden have passed the 56 mark for the Lions.

Although the team is assured a place in regional competition, a solid score at Michigan State is still important. Only four of the 10 teams at regionals go on to the NCAA Championships.

"We're never complacent," junior Jamie Downer said. "We want a 283 next. It would be nice to have a big advantage going into regionals. We were eight points ahead of (Illinois-Chicago) and we'd like that again. You need a drastic change to make up that many points."

Such a distance between scores is what Schier has been looking for all season long.

"We'd like another good separation against Michigan State," he said. "We wanted a five-point spread between us and Illinois-Chicago and we achieved that. We like to leave a team saying, 'Wow, what a superior team.' "

The team score is not the only concern for the Lions as they face the Spartans. Individually, the Lions excelled last week. Of the 36 routines against Illinois-Chicago, only Cowden suffered a major break and consequently scored a 9.6 on vault.

Downer recorded a season-best 55.75 in the all-around, but insists he can do better. The junior only tallied a 9.1 on rings and hopes to improve there.

Despite the vault, Cowden finished the meet with a 55.65, but has scored as high as a 56.60 in competition this season.

And, Masucci, a freshman, won the all-around with a career-high 56.50.

"Mike did a fine job, but it still wasn't a perfect meet for him," Schier said. "He had minor breaks, nothing major. We've been changing his routines all along, trying to see what the guy can do. It just clicked finally."

It will be difficult for the Lions to score as well as last week away from home because the team is young and away from packed Rec Hall.

While any team does benefit from home judging, Schier said that last weekend's meet was a true team hit, meaning that it was not due to favoritism by the judges, but because his gymnasts stuck their routines.

"The away floor does a little bit, but not enough to drastically affect our performance," Cowden said. "It's all part of the game, so you have to deal with it. We're just getting into the groove now, so we're going to keep going against Michigan State."