It wasn't easy choosing 10 games out of 999. Especially considering this is Penn State, a school with a long history of gridiron excellence. But after much deliberation we've picked, in order, what we feel are the 10 most memorable games in Lion history.

So without further ado . . .

There was little margin for error. If Penn State was to upset No. 1 Miami, everything would have to go according to plan.

The plan called for a patented bend-but-don't-break defense that preyed on Miami's miscues, a kicking game that continually pinned the 'Canes deep in their own territory and a ball-control offense that steered clear of turnovers.

"Obviously (Miami) gained a lot of yards," recalled defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who helped mastermind the brilliant game plan, "but everything went according to script."

Indeed. Once again the Lion defense stymied a Heisman Trophy winner, as a confused Vinnie Testaverde threw five interceptions. While the offense sputtered, unsung punter John Bruno kept Penn State in the game with booming kicks that left the 'Cane offense in poor field position all night.

With Penn State trailing 10-7 in the fourth quarter, Shane Conlan took matters into his own hands. The All-American linebacker, playing on a bad knee, intercepted a Testaverde pass near midfield and rambled all the way to the 'Cane 5-yard line. Two plays later, D.J. Dozier waltzed in for the go-ahead touchdown.

Miami marched to the Penn State 9-yard line with just under a minute to play. But just as it had done earlier in the season against Maryland and Notre Dame, the Lion defense made a valiant stand.

On fourth down, in a play that will forever be remembered as The Interception, Pete Giftopoulos picked off a Testaverde pass in the end zone, thus ensuring Penn State's second national championship in five years.

Enough was enough already. Joe Paterno was due.

After grasping empty air in his quest for a national championship time after time, the Penn State coach finally got his just rewards -- in the same place where they had been so rudely snatched away four years before.

The New Orleans Superdome was the sight for a showdown between the Lion defense and Heisman horse Herschel Walker.

But this would be Curt Warner's showcase. The senior tailback scampered around left end for the Lions' first touchdown with 12:09 remaining in the first quarter.

Georgia's Kevin Butler struck back with a field goal, but Warner's 26-yard run early in the second quarter led the first of three Nick Gancitano field goals.

Later in the quarter, Warner cut across the grain for a 9-yard TD, giving Penn State a 17-3 halftime lead.

In the end, Warner rushed for 117 yards, Walker a quiet 103.

Alabama would cut the margin to 20-17, but one of the most famous aerials in Penn State history, a 48-yard bomb down the sideline from Todd Blackledge to a fully extended Gregg Garrity, sealed the Bulldogs' fate.

The timeless sight of Joe Paterno thrusting one finger into the air is one of the sweetest Nittany Lion memories.

As Sports Illustrated intoned, the Lions were "No. 1 at Last!"

Perhaps the most frustrating blue-and-white memory.

Penn State's bid for its first-ever national championship fell short by about 6 inches. In a game marked by two dominating defenses, the Tide was high.

The Lions' potent running game was stymied all night in front of a raucous Superdome crowd. Drives were stalling on both sides of the ball. In fact, the Lions' vaunted running attack gobbled up a whopping 19 yards.

A 62-yard punt return by Alabama's Lou Ikner gave Alabama a 14-7 lead late in the third quarter.

But Penn State never stopped fighting. Turnovers on both sides of the ball led to a number of opportunities -- including the infamous goal-line stand.

Late in the fourth quarter, Penn State recovered a fumble on the Tide 19, and advanced to a first down on the Alabama 1-yard line.

First down: Mike Guman is stuffed on a pitch.

Second down: A pass for Scott Fitzkee falls incomplete.

Third down: Matt Suhey runs up the gut, falling inches short of the goal line.

And finally, a conservative fourth down call saw Guman try to leap over the pack, only to be stopped cold by linebacker Barry Krauss -- the game's MVP.

"I wish we would have done something else on the goal line," Paterno said afterward. "But it was the only play to go with."

Once again, a national championship had eluded Paterno's grasp.

It wasn't a question of stopping Nebraska's offense. Joe Paterno's team could only hope to slow down the Big Red Machine.

Penn State was able to do just that in the first half, holding one of the most potent offenses in college football history to 7 points. Meanwhile Todd Blackledge, who threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns, staked Penn State to a 21-7 third quarter lead with an 18-yard scoring strike to Kenny Jackson.

But Nebraska rallied.

A 1-yard sneak by Gill gave the 'Huskers their first lead of the game with 1:18 showing on the clock, thus setting the stage for the most dramatic comeback in Beaver Stadium history.

The unflappable Blackledge, hitting clutch pass after clutch pass, led Penn State to Nebraska's 2-yard line. With eight seconds left, Blackledge spotted Kirk Bowman in the back of the end zone.

And the man who answered to "Stone Hands" reeled in one of the biggest catches in Lion history.

"Maybe I've found a home," said Bowman, who always seemed to be playing a new position.

If nowhere else, he had found a home in the hearts of Nittany Lion fans.

Joe Paterno was leaving it up to his defense. Yes, Penn State's unblemished record now rested in the hands of Reid, Smear, Onkotz, Ham and Smith.

Trailing Kansas 14-7 with just over two minutes to play, Paterno opted to punt with Penn State facing with a fourth-and-long in its own territory.

The call proved to be correct.

The Lions stuffed Kansas on three plays, and Neal Smith partially blocked the ensuing punt to give Penn State the ball at midfield with 1:23 to play.

Three plays after completing a 47-yard pass to Bob Campbell, Chuck Burkhart scored on a quarterback keeper.

A Burkhart pass to Campbell fell incomplete on the ensuing two-point conversion. But as the football lay on the turf, so did a yellow flag. The Jayhawks had too many men on the field.

On the reprieve, Campbell took a handoff from Burkhart and scampered around left end for the conversion.

"I'll probably never see another yard-and-a-half like that," Campbell said after the game.

While Penn State, which would finish No. 2 in the Associated Press poll despite a perfect record, celebrated, Rick Abernathy wept in the Jayhawk locker room.

He had been the 12th man on the field.

Craig Fayak had kicked hundreds of these in his own backyard.

Penn State had won seven in a row after losing its first two games of the season. Notre Dame, meanwhile, was in the national championship hunt. The No. 1 Irish were driving late in the game with the score tied at 21, but Darren Perry, playing a perfect centerfield, intercepted an overthrown pass in Irish territory. It would come down to a kick. Fayak knew that. But this kind of stuff wasn't supposed to happen to a mere freshman.

"I felt my knees buckle," he said.

With the final few seconds ticking off the clock, Fayak lined up to kick a 34-yard field goal. There has never been a kick off the toes of those black shoes that looked sweeter. It split the uprights.

"What a situation. I'll look back on that the rest of my life and say that was the greatest moment I've ever had in sports," Fayak said.

Little did Fayak know that the best was yet to come. The victory sparked a storming of Beaver Stadium by thousands of rowdy students, who proceeded to carry the goalposts to Old Main lawn. They flooded College Avenue, rocking buses and cars, and dropped the uprights off on Joe Paterno's front lawn.

The riot, while generally peaceful, drew its share of criticism.

"I think our team deserves fans who have a lot more class," Director of Public Information Bill Mahon told The Daily Collegian after the incident.

They sure have a lot of spirit.

Dan Marino was not going to miss.

At least that's what it looked like to Fran Fisher after Pitt's rifle-armed quarterback connected on nine of his first 10 passes.

"Man, this is going to be a long afternoon," Fisher said to his broadcast partner Jim Tarman (currently Penn State's athletic director) after Marino hooked up with Dwight Collins for Pitt's second touchdown -- before Penn State's offense had netted a yard.

Minutes later, No. 1 Pitt was knocking on the door again. Marino, perhaps smelling blood, went for the end zone.

His pass was hauled in, but it was Penn State safety Roger Jackson who made a beautiful grab as he was diving out of the end zone.

At the time it appeared to be little more than a Band-Aid on a knife wound. Something to stop the bleeding momentarily.

But the interception proved to be a turning point. Slowly Penn State chipped away. By halftime, the Lions had knotted the score at 14.

In the second half, Pitt simply fell apart. Its backs came down with fumblitis, while a flustered Marino went ice-cold.

Meanwhile, Marino-Collins proved to be merely an opening act for the Todd Blackledge-Kenny Jackson aerial show -- the dynamic duo connected on five passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns.

When all was said and done, Penn State had reeled off 48 unanswered points, stunning the home crowd and squashing the national championship hopes of its bitter rival.

It's a wonder that Woody Hayes never slugged Rip Engle.

Time after time, Engle's Nittany Lions brought an air of frustration to Columbus with them. That was culminated by this blasting.

"Yes, (lightning) did strike three times," Engle said after the game.

The third time left the Buckeyes charred.

One Philadelphia writer said "the referee should have stopped the game."

But no one could stop the pandemonium that struck Happy Valley. Even before the final whistle blew, "thousands of Penn State students were streaming into College Avenue from the four corners of campus," the Collegian wrote.

Yet this was not your ordinary riot. This was a victory celebration led by Undergraduate Student Government President Ben Novak -- now a University trustee.

"I enjoyed it. I enjoyed feeling a part of it," Novak said.

The generally peaceful riot was marked by the hanging of the Metzger's pet Nittany Lion on traffic lights and lampposts, and a sea of confetti and toilet paper.

A number of students captured a Volkswagen bug and pushed it to University President Eric A. Walker's home.

Ironically enough, the "celebration" was met with a sea of praise. Police Lt. Matthew Seclinger commended the participants for their non-violent behavior, and the Collegian editorial opinion read, "Spirit such as that, shown on a Saturday, is supposedly the stuff college students are made of, and a welcome sight on any campus."

My, how times have changed.

It was a harbinger of things to come. A century of gridiron excellence was kicked off with a bang when Penn State College, clad in pink-and-black, marched into Lewisburg and put a 54-0 whipping on Bucknell.

Times have changed. The black-and-pink faded into blue-and-white. Penn State College became Penn State University. And the forward pass has since been introduced (the jury's still out on whether Penn State has discovered it).

Amid reports of dissension among the Lion squad, the team advanced to its first bowl game since the 1923 Rose Bowl. And Coach Bob Higgins' squad (no, Joe was not there yet) drew the unenviable task of facing the legendary Doak Walker.

But Penn State quarterback Elwood Petchel began to "out-Walker Walker," the Collegian reported. The little-known quarterback tossed two touchdown passes, and the Lion defense was stingy enough to hold Walker to a modest 66 rushing yards and 114 yards passing.

After the game, both coaches proved that cliches do stand the test of time.

"You played 'em a great game," SMU Coach Marty Bell said. "You can't take it from Penn State --they're a great club."

"You, too, are a great club," Higgins countered. "We are glad to settle for a tie."

Penn State and SMU were not the only ones to tie the knot that weekend. Guard Bob Ross "married his high school sweetheart, Miss Colleen Aiken, following the Cotton Bowl clash on New Year's Day," the Collegian emblazoned on its front page.