They won the dangerous opener, dominated in the big game and survived the possible letdown.

The next pitfall the Penn State football team has to get past is the game against the thorn in its side. The No. 12 Nittany Lions (3-0) open their Big Ten schedule against Iowa (3-1) at 12:05 p.m. tomorrow at Beaver Stadium after losing three of their last four games against the Hawkeyes.

The Hawkeyes upset the Lions in each of the past two seasons. In 2000, despite a 1-4 start, the Lions were still alive for a shot at the postseason until they lost to Iowa. Lions' tight end Tony Stewart dropped a pass into the hands of Iowa defensive back Ryan Hansen in overtime, allowing the Hawkeyes to leave Beaver Stadium with a 26-23 victory. Last season, the Hawkeyes held the Lions to just 33 rushing yards, winning with a final score of 24-18.

This year, the Lions know they can't overlook the Hawkeyes and are using the memory of the two past losses to get excited for tomorrow's contest.

"We're definitely using it as a motivating factor, especially after last season," defensive end Michael Haynes said. "We missed going to a bowl game by a game."

The Hawkeyes aren't considering the history as much.

"We don't really look at the last two games," tight end Dallas Clark said. "Those were two totally different situations. It means nothing to this team."

Indeed, the teams are vastly different. Last season, the Lions' offense was bland and couldn't move the football if they were playing Bellefonte's junior high squad. The strides the Lions have made to open things up this season have been well documented, and they are averaging 430 offensive yards per game.

The Hawkeyes have also gone through a lot of changes since last season's game. They lost their leading passer, rusher and receiver from last year with the graduation of quarterback Kyle McCann, running back Ladell Betts and wide receiver Khalil Hill.

Their replacements have done well thus far. Junior running back Fred Russell is tied for second in the conference in rushing yards with 471, despite sitting out last week's game with a sore shoulder. Quarterback Brad Banks, a more athletic signal caller than McCann, has 744 yards passing and six touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Maurice Brown, who had only three receptions before this season, has already hauled in 16 balls for 334 yards and four touchdowns.

"It would be hard for me to think watching them this year as opposed to last year that they have missed anybody offensively," Penn State football coach Joe Paterno said. "I think they are better in all of the skilled positions than they probably were last year."

One thing on the Hawkeyes that hasn't changed, however, is the team's success against the run. They have only allowed 46.8 yards per game on the ground this season, the best in the conference. Paterno said he doesn't want to put too much emphasis on what happened last year, but he knows with a run defense like that and a strong offensive line, the Hawkeyes can keep their streak against the Lions going.

"I think this is a very, very fine football team. This is a better Iowa team than it was last year on both sides of the football and with a great kicking game," he said. "If you are going to beat them, you have to be tough, consistent and you have to be patient."