Football is fun again in this town.

Tuesday night, the staff of Damon's restaurant found that out first hand.

In walked these nine football players, wearing hungry looks on their faces.

It was, reports say, about 7:30 when the terror started. Five offensive linemen, two fullbacks, two tight ends and their leader, Larry Johnson, known across town as the Nastiest Back Around, stalked in for the all-you-can-eat ribs and wings.

But then, something strange happened. Instead of digging right in, the group calmly sat down and began competing in the trivia game displayed on said establishment's televisions.

"Those guys up front are real smart," Johnson says. "So they always like to play the trivia, see who's better."

Better on this night belonged to Matt Schmitt and Joe Iorio. A face-to-face duel between the two has yet to be scheduled, but the Collegian will follow the story and report details as they come.

At 8 p.m., the eating started. Tyler Lenda was best at that.

"He had like a skeleton on his plate," Johnson says. "He got up three or four times. Those guys can finish 'em off."

The meal was Johnson's way of thanking his offensive line for finishing off blockers and allowing him to become the first Penn State back to run for 100 yards in consecutive games since Eric McCoo did it in 1999.

The bill: $184. Not bad for a night they'll never forget.

What a phrase: never forget. It gets thrown around quite a bit. And it's funny, because we like to act as though it is an elite category that only the most important of memories gets into.

But that view is clearly misconstrued and melodramatic. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, people were quick to chastise sports for taking on too large a role in American society. We needed to re-center ourselves.

That, partially, was true. Joe Paterno likes to say that you are never as good as you think you are when you win, and never as bad as you think you are when you lose. That's a good way to look at life in general. There is a middle ground in all things, and somewhere in there, sports does matter.

I didn't always believe that. There's a certain way that people look at you when you're a sports writer and most of the time you do not want to be looked at that way because people are generally making you smaller than you are.

So, I tried to take a worldly view at sports and keep them in perspective. I tried to read Chaucer and hang out at trendy cafés.

Only, Chaucer makes no sense and I don't drink coffee or any of its derivatives.

Perspective, I've since decided, is something you always have and are looking for anyway.

After the Nittany Lions beat Nebraska, things started to come alive. My e-mail inbox filled with letters from alumni of all ages simply writing to say how excited they were about Penn State football again.

What got to me, though, was how many of them echoed this sentiment: I'm glad you get to experience a good football team while you are there.

This is college, the land of higher learning, a fine scholarly place where my mind will be opened. What does football matter?

When Zack Mills walked into class after the Nebraska game, his classmates cheered.

"I've never experienced anything like that," Mills says softly. "I just sort of smiled to acknowledge it and then got to my seat as quick as I could."

You flip on ESPN and they're talking about Mills or Johnson or Jimmy Kennedy.

Johnson even showed up on the ESPN.com Heisman watch.

Professors are talking about the team before class.

Penn State football is in the air, and it is exciting.

The funny stories are coming out.

Last week, Anthony Adams punched Shawn Mayer in the head.

Mayer getting punched in the head isn't funny. The free safety is quite possibly the meanest looking human being in Central Pennsylvania, so it seems to be in my best interest not to laugh at his misfortune.

The funny part is a 293-pound, 6-foot lineman dancing around the locker room throwing punches.

For two years, it was all negative press. How the team had fallen, how it could get back.

The way it has gotten back has raised the excitement to new levels. It's a different Penn State team but it is winning. The questions are how and how long.

A national elite? Not yet. Not compared to Miami.

But we'll wait it out. The Nittany Lions weren't supposed to be this good. Now, Penn State, which is what We Are, is proving everyone wrong.

Says Johnson: "Everyone is walking around with a smile on their face like they play, which they have been, because they've been there supporting us."

It doesn't hurt that they're living a time they'll never forget, either.