Confidence breeds victory -- or does victory breed confidence? At Penn State, there hasn't been a shortage of either during the second half of the season.

After an 0-4 start that might have been 0-5 had the Virginia game not been rescheduled due to the Sept. 11 attacks, something clicked in the Nittany Lions. Offensive production went up, points increased and the team's collective ego, so fragile during September and October, shot sky high. And the number in the win column went from zero to five.

"Right now our team's on a hot streak," wide receiver Tony Johnson said. "And I don't think we can be stopped. We're able to beat anybody on any given day."

Johnson is not the only Lion who holds this attitude, nor is this a brash statement considering the way Penn State has played from the Northwestern game on. Since Oct. 20, Penn State has beaten Outback Bowl-bound Ohio State, held the dynamic offense of Indiana in check, decimated a stingy Southern Mississippi 'D' and withstood a gamey Michigan State squad in Lansing.

The lone flaw on Penn State's schedule since Oct. 20 was a come-from-ahead loss to Illinois, when the offense suffered a second-half shutdown and the defense gave up 19 second-half points. Still, the Lions were only a play or two away from knocking off the Big Ten's top team in their own backyard and possibly achieving a remarkable seven straight wins to end the season.

As it stands, if they can take down the Cavaliers Saturday in Charlottesville, the Lions will finish the season at 6-5 and head for a bowl, with sights on even greater successes in 2002.

"This confidence that we have now will definitely carry over to next season," said defensive end Michael Haynes, one of 16 potential returning starters.

But which came first -- the confidence chicken or the victory egg? Most would agree that a great deal of the Lions' turnaround has to do with improved play above anything else.

"We're making a lot more plays now than we did then," quarterback Zack Mills said. "We were in position earlier in the season to make plays, but we just didn't."

The plays led to points, the points led to wins, and with the wins, the Lions started to believe. The team that hung its head in the early part of the season now feels it can play with anyone in the nation. More importantly, a team that

let opponents dictate the flow of the game now realizes it controls its own destiny.

"We're confident, we believe in each other," linebacker Shamar Finney said.

"We're in a position right now where it's all on us."

During the final game (or games) Penn State has a chance to put the finishing touches on what would be one of the most remarkable turnarounds in team history. With a win Saturday, the Lions will have won six of their last seven -- something that they haven't accomplished since 1994, when State was 12-0.

Where they were when they started that streak makes it all the more incredible.

"The season has been special," Johnson said.

It's amazing what a little confidence can do.