Joe Paterno told his team the whole time that they would be good. Even after starting the season with four losses. Even after the Nittany Lions got off to the worst start in school history.

Now, after winning three straight games, two against Big Ten opponents, the Penn State football team is starting to believe its coach's message.

After upsetting Northwestern and Ohio State and then whipping Southern Mississippi, the Lions are starting to feel good about themselves and their chances on a possible bowl game bid.

"We feel the sky is the limit," Lions tailback Omar Easy said. "For the past couple weeks it has been fun."

Penn State has improved at all positions, but especially on the offensive side of the ball. Freshman quarterback Zack Mills has emerged as a star with his outstanding final drive against the Wildcats and then leading Penn State to victories over the Buckeyes and Golden Eagles.

The offensive line has stayed healthy in the past few weeks and has allowed for a ground attack from Eric McCoo, Larry Johnson and Easy.

And, most importantly, the receivers have started to catch passes. Bryant Johnson and Tony Johnson have consistently caught the ball the past three weeks and have emerged as Mills' favorite targets.

Overall, from the quarterback to the punter, Penn State has gotten better and the players are pleased good things are finally starting to happen.

"The confidence is going up tremendously," defensive end Bob Jones said. "Everything is starting to click."

But the Lions aren't looking too far ahead. Two more losses and their postseason hopes are finished. Although Penn State has ripped off three straight victories and the buzz around a bowl game is starting to heat up, the players are more concerned about next week.

"This is a key game to win," Easy said about Saturday's matchup with Illinois. "They are going to be ready for us, and we'll be ready ourselves."

Illinois is atop the Big Ten standings and a win for Penn State would be huge. But the players don't want to get ahead of themselves.

Linebacker Ron Graham said even though the team has worked out the small problems, the team still needs to concentrate on its next opponent to be successful. Looking past any team will be a fatal mistake for the Lions, and they don't have the luxury of doing that.

But with the confidence as high as it's been since the 1999 season around Happy Valley, a quarterback who seems to amaze everyone and a team that has hit its stride, anything can happen for Penn State.

The Lions just want to make sure good things happen in the next four weeks.

"We've got a lot of momentum going," Graham said. "A lot of guys have stepped up, old and young. There's nobody we can't beat and there's nobody that can't beat us."