Joe Paterno cannot forget the pain in his heart.

He remembers Dan Nystrom's last-second 32-yard field goal, he remembers Marcus Knight's 11-yard touchdown reception and he remembers T.J. Duckett's powerful 11-yard scamper into the end zone.

Those three scores came in the Nittany Lions' final quarters of their final three games, and with those conference losses, Paterno's quest for a third national championship slipped away.

Penn State had managed to avoid catastrophe up until that point. But once November came, disaster could not be averted. The results were as chilling as the air, and the Lions' disappointing season would come to a close in the Alamo Bowl.

"Up until last year, we were pretty good in November," said Paterno, who, in his 35 years, has led his teams to a 93-23-2 mark in November.

"We really were."

Well, Halloween is gone and so are many of the players from that team. But this month's contests are still critical for Penn State's bowl implications. That is, if the Lions will compete in a bowl game at all and propel Paterno to the all-time major college coaching victory leader.

"I don't think we are really worried about Joe's record," offensive lineman Kareem McKenzie said. "I think we are worried about winning these last three games. I don't think there has ever been a Penn State team like this. I think it will be a tribute to Joe, but it will be more of a tribute to the team itself."

Last season, Penn State seemed destined for the Sugar Bowl and a national championship clash with Florida State. But as deep and as gifted a team the Lions boasted, they could not hang with their opposition, who spent the season's first Saturday resting rather than competing against a talented Arizona team.

This season, though, the Lions must win their remaining three contests to at least play in the postseason, but they are still not out of contention for the Rose Bowl. But Paterno is still wary not to prep too hard for these upcoming three weeks, the first of which will be held against Iowa at 12:10 p.m. Saturday in Beaver Stadium.

"I certainly don't want to work so hard that we are tired now," Paterno said. "We have got to be very, very careful that we don't work them too tough in practice so that on Saturday we run out of gas in the second half.

"We are very aware of the fact of what happened last year, but I am also weighing all of the things that may have been factors in that."

But the 51-year coach said, "I don't know whether I have the answer."

Paterno knows this:

He is not about to overlook Iowa, a team that has posted one win this season, even though he will coach his team against a talented Michigan squad next week in The Big House.

Should Penn State win those two contests, it could control its own fate for the postseason when Michigan State visits Happy Valley.

Still, that might have been Penn State's demise last season.

The Lions could have been physically prepared, but not mentally primed for the November competition.

"We just lost focus," Penn State safety James Boyd said. "We were supposedly unbeatable. We overlooked some teams. And I think that's how we got beat."