Mary Lou McEwen will be prepared this Saturday. Her cookies shaped like Joe Paterno's head and the Nittany Lion will be done. And she will be ready to give them away. She will get to see the 1994 Penn State football team parade through campus.

"I made cookies for the last time they had a parade," said McEwen, a State College resident, referring to the 1986 national championship team. "I love parades, and I don't get to very many of the games. I thought I'd hand out a few cookies."

The championship parade starts at 10 a.m. Saturday and will follow the same route as the Homecoming Parade did last fall. It will begin at the corner of Bigler and Curtin roads, proceed down Pollock to Shortlidge Road and down College Avenue.

While the football team was not awarded the national championship this year, something had to be done to pay tribute to the players, said Frank Giardina, parade chairman and Penn State's director of sports promotion and marketing.

"The purpose of the parade is to honor the football team," Giardina said. "We want to provide a very festive celebration now that everyone is back in town. The parade is a thank you for their efforts and the outstanding season they had."

The parade will feature about 50 units, including the Penn State Blue Band and five other marching bands. Several floats also will be put together by local store owners. The highlight of the parade, however, will be the players.

"The team will be on two flatbed trucks," said Norm Brown, parade co-chairman and manager of the Student Book Store, 330 E. College Ave. "The All-Americans and seniors are going to be in open cars, sporadically put in throughout the parade."

Brown helped organize the parade with Giardina and Bob Price of Downtown State College, Inc. Plans for the celebration began following the Lions' Rose Bowl victory over Oregon on Jan. 2.

"We got a lot of calls from alumni, students and townspeople saying that something needed to be done," Brown said.

The football team will also be honored at halftime of the Penn State men's basketball game against Iowa at 1 p.m. Saturday in Rec Hall.

"I think we've picked a good weekend," Brown said. "The time (of the parade) had to be a little early because of the basketball game. It seemed like availability was good in the hotels, but they are filling up now. If the weather works out, we'll be ready to go Saturday morning."

And the football team will be ready as well. Junior fullback Brian Milne is looking forward to Saturday.

"It's nice to have the parade because it shows the appreciation of the fans," he said.

Giardina expects a good turnout since several well-known players have now played their final games as Nittany Lions.

"We hope that people will come out and get one final look at some of the guys," he said. "It may be your last chance to see a Kerry Collins, a Ki-Jana Carter or a Kyle Brady in this kind of informal setting."