Oh, and don't forget about the Friday night guarding of the Nittany Lion shrine that brings out the best in school pride from both alumni and students alike.

But obviously the biggest attraction of the entire weekend is Saturday afternoon's gridiron clash that usually pits the beloved Lions against a somewhat inferior foe (although the Lions have a somewhat more formidable foe this year).

The pregame tailgating, the pageantry of one of America's finest games and the subsequent post-game celebration (assuming the 'good guys' win, of course) helps wrap up a weekend that was not only glazed with enjoyment, but one that allowed everyone to step out of the fast pace of reality and into the surreal surroundings of college life.

But most of all, this weekend is a chance for current students and alumni to unite together in the name of the Penn State family. In a sense, even if you don't have a blood relative in State College this weekend, you have been part of an extended family for the past 36 hours.

That's true for all students — present and past alike — including the university's football team. But this year, Homecoming takes on a whole new meaning for a plethora of Penn State football players.

Why? Because 15 Lions are not only part of the previously mentioned extended family, but they have blood relatives who are members of this family as well.

"When I have time and look back at the kind of tradition that has been established here," coach Joe Paterno said, "the fact that there has been that kind of confidence by people who have been in the program who want their kids in the program, then you feel pretty good about it."

You see, of the previously mentioned 15 players, six of Paterno's current players have fathers who once donned the Blue and White.

Redshirt freshman linebacker Tim Johnson shares more than just heretic bloodlines with his father, Pete, since the elder Johnson doubled as a linebacker and tight end for Paterno from 1967-69.

Junior guard Tyler Lenda falls into the same boat as Johnson. Lenda's father, Ed, lettered for the Lions in the last two season of his career, which ran from 1963-66.

Although Lenda received attention from a handful of Div. I programs, he said when it came down to it, Penn State always felt like a second home to him.

"It's the only place I ever really wanted to go to," the younger Lenda said. "It was a dream of mine since I was six or seven years old. When it came down to making a choice in high school, I looked at other schools, but I couldn't wholeheartedly really look at anywhere but Penn State."

A set of brothers on this year's team also have previous ties to the Penn State tradition. Tight end Casey Williams and his older brother Tom (an outside linebacker) were given the Penn State football gene by their father, Tom, who himself was a Lion from 1971-75. In addition, the brothers' uncle, Frank, was around for Paterno's early years, as he adorned college football's most distinguished uniform from 1969-73.

The fifth member of this sextet is junior offensive lineman Eric Rickenbach. His father, Robert was a tight end and guard for Paterno from 1970-72. The elder Rickenbach also went on to have a stint in the World and Canadian Football Leagues.

Eric got off to an equally emotional and physical rough start to this year after he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee at the outset of summer practice, forcing him to sit out all of this season. But that hasn't changed his attitude one bit about the school in which he and his father have strong feelings for.

And not surprisingly, one of the biggest thrills that the younger Rickenbach has in playing for Paterno is the fact that his dad put on the same uniform as him thirty years before.

"That's definitely something that's neat," Eric said. "I got to see the program through his eyes when I was growing up and now he sees it through my eyes."

Freshman hero Andrew Guman is the last piece of this six-pronged puzzle. Guman's father, Mike, was a star running back for Paterno during the late 1970's. The elder Guman later became a sixth round draft pick of the then Los Angeles Rams and played professionally in southern California from 1980-88.

Like most parents during their sons' recruitment out of high school, Mike stepped back and let young Andrew make the decision solely on his own. But deep down inside, he was jumping for joy when his son chose to take his game to Happy Valley.

"When Joe offered him a scholarship last year after the Purdue game, I was thrilled," Mike said. "A few weeks later, he said 'why am I going through all of this recruiting stuff. I want to go to Penn State.'"

Surprisingly, a lot has changed since the days when these players' fathers roamed the confines of Beaver Stadium even though only Paterno has been the boss through the past five decades.

But the alterations that the older generation of Lions has noticed are not at all bad ones.

"I told Andrew that he was lucky to be at Penn State right now," the senior Guman said. "If you just look at the facilities available to these kids today, you realize how lucky they are to be there."

In addition, redshirt freshman tailback Mike Gasparato is a second generation Nittany Lion. . .well sort of. While his father, Nick, never actually saw the gridiron as a player, he was part of Paterno's coaching staff from 1980-89.

Mike's parents knew from the day he was born that he literally couldn't wait to become part of the Penn State football family.

"Michael was born in 1981 in Arizona while we were getting ready to play Southern California in the Fiesta Bowl," Nick, a former Lion offensive line coach, said. "It's funny because at first we thought that there was no way my wife should go on the trip in case he was going to be born. But the doctors said there was no way that he'd be born before the first or second week of January.

"Well he was born three days before the game. From then on, we were convinced he had blue blood and was a true Nittany Lion."

Not even the family's move to South Carolina stopped the younger Gasparato from coming back to the place where his father got his big break in the coaching profession.

However, the father-son connection between Lion players, past and present, isn't the only link that characterizes the family atmosphere of this team.

In addition to the Williams, several siblings have decided to follow in the footsteps of their older brothers en route to a collegiate football career at Penn State.

First, senior linebacker Dave Benfatti ventured west from north Jersey five years after his big bro, Lou, finished up an All-American senior season at defensive tackle in 1993 before playing in a three-year, injury shortened career with the New York Jets.

Similarly, senior guard Joe Hartings followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Jeff, from Ohio to central Pennsylvania. The older Hartings brother was an All-American guard on the 1994 Rose Bowl team and later became an All-Pro guard for the Detroit Lions before heading to the Pittsburgh Steelers this season as a center.

While neither Benfatti nor Hartings had the privilege of playing along side their older sibling, three other sets of brothers are doing just that this season.

Senior walk-on center Geoff Stryker and brother Jason, a redshirt freshman walk-on wide receiver, took perhaps the most unusual routes of winding up in State College. Because their father, Ford, was an officer in the Navy, the Stryker siblings have done their fair share of traveling before finding a home in Happy Valley.

The Strykers have lived in, among other places, Biloxi, Miss., Freehold, Virginia Beach, Va., and parts of Italy and Iceland before finally resting in State College.

Suburban Reading natives, John and Pete Gilmore, are another brother combo that play together at Penn State. Big John is a bulldozing 6-foot-4, 258-pound senior tight end who has been called upon this season as a team leader, while little Pete is a speedy 5-foot-10, 206-pound slashing redshirt freshman tailback.

There's no debate among the Lions that whenever a teammate is in need, he can surely call upon a teammate to be there at the drop of a hat. But the older Gilmore brother said it's extra comforting to know one of those teammates is of the same flesh and blood.

"That's a plus," John said. "I get to see him everyday and we sit down and find out about each other's day and see how the other one is doing. It's nice to be able to be there when he needs me, or just so he has a house to do some laundry at."

Incidentally, the Gilmores' uncle, Bruce, played running back for the Lions in the late 1950's.

But perhaps the most interesting of all the stories is that of the other Johnson family. There's not only two, but three members of the same family that are currently part of the Penn State football program.

Everyone by now knows about Larry Jr., the hard-running tailback whose legs never stop churning and his kid brother, Tony, who's quickly becoming a star receiver. But their old man, Larry Sr., is the Lions' defensive line coach.

But just because dad is on the staff doesn't mean the boys get preferential treatment.

"It can be an advantage but also, at the same time, you're looked at closer," Tony said. "You've got to do things 10 to 20 times harder than the average person. So it's an advantage but a challenge as well."

And while Larry Jr. said he was never pressured into playing at the same school where his dad coaches, it was always important for him to attend Penn State.

"I think it goes through history," he said. "(My dad) had connections with the school even before he became a coach here. And I think it's good to have traditions to pass on."

That's a pretty impressive list that symbolizes everything that's great about family and tradition.

Sort of makes you even more Penn State proud on a weekend like this, doesn't it?