As the men's rugby team gears up for the start of the regular season, anticipation for the postseason isn't far behind.

The Ruggers face Loyola in their first MARFU league game at 1 p.m. Saturday at the East Campus Flower Gardens Field. The match serves as the first step for the team in working toward its national championship game goal, and hopefully winning this year.

As for Loyola, Penn State hasn't had a problem with them in the past. Although the Ruggers are normally able to beat them by a "good margin," captain Kirk Neubauer and his teammates are not taking the game lightly.

"We don't know what to expect this year," the fifth-year senior flanker said. "This will be a good game to see where we stand."

The Ruggers are coming off double preseason losses to Indiana University of Pennsylvania, but the "tune-up" matches gave assistant coach Don Ferrell and the rest of the staff indications of what to work on.

"The games were a good opportunity to see where we were as a team," Ferrell said. "Some of the new young players were able to see the pressure and speed of the game at this level."

Practices this week focused on the basic corrections the team needed to make, through a lot of contact and scrimmages to toughen up the newer guys.

"The desire didn't seem to be there in some cases, and we need to weed that out," Neubauer said. "(Practice) is a gut-check thing. A lot of people aren't realizing the intensity (this sport) takes."

The Ruggers are looking toward Saturday to get back into the "ream of things," according to junior eight-man Jason Fisher. The team was thrown off a little by the cancellation of the Ohio State game due to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Although the extra week might partially explain the recent loss to IUP, senior Sean Umstead said the Ruggers intensity was missing from the beginning.

"Everyone is really pumped up this week," the outside center said. "We want to increase our physical presence on the field and play stronger defense."