The Kickoff Classic means more than Penn State-Southern California.
It means more than a chance for Joe Paterno to earn one of the wins he needs to become the all-time winningest coach in Div. I-A football.
It means more than the Pac-10 fighting for respect.
It means money.
Penn State and Southern California are guaranteed to receive at least $650,000 for the game held in Giants Stadium, according to a Kickoff Classic press release. But the two schools could receive more if 30 percent of the gross revenue surpasses that total.
"People sometimes don't realize that there is not one nickel given to this athletic program from the state or from the university," Paterno said during Penn State Football Media Day Aug. 5. "Every single scholarship comes out of our budget. Every dollar comes out of our budget. Every dollar spent for tutors in the academic support comes out of (Penn State Athletics Director) Tim Curley's budget. You have over 700 or 800 athletes all of whom have academic support available to them. All of them have the same things that the football players have."
The game begins at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
In the 17-year history of the Kickoff Classic, the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame have received about $7 million in proceeds. Some of those funds have gone to post-graduate scholarships to athletes.
The Independent College Fund of New Jersey has received nearly $450,000 from its affiliation with the game.
Tickets, which went on sale April 17 and costs $40 and $25, are sold out.
Penn State students could purchase no more than two tickets for $40.
"There is an ongoing pressure," said Paterno, a former Penn State athletics director. "I sometimes think people think that we want to make money to make money as if we are in the banking business. We are trying to make sure that all of our sports have legitimate opportunities to compete."
The Nittany Lions, who played in the Pigskin Classic last season against Arizona last year in Beaver Stadium and the 1996 Kickoff Classic against the Trojans, will appear in their record fourth Kickoff Classic and are looking to win their 10th consecutive season opener.
