And to think, the season was rolling along so nicely.

The Nittany Lions were winning, and Penn State football was back on the map as a team to be respected and feared. Sure, head coach Joe Paterno warned that his team had yet to be "punched in the mouth," but why worry? This team was invincible.

Then last Saturday, Iowa caught the Lions flush with the mother of all roundhouses in Penn State's 42-35 loss. In the week since, questions have surfaced surrounding the effectiveness of the "new" offense, an injury-riddled secondary and even team chemistry.

In the face of all this, the Lions embark on the toughest stretch of their season, playing three of their next four games on the road, all three against ranked opponents.

The gantlet begins tomorrow, when No. 21 Penn State (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten) travels to Camp Randall Stadium to battle No. 19 Wisconsin (5-0) in the Badgers' conference opener at 3:30 p.m.

With running back Anthony Davis having piled up nearly 500 yards this season, the Badgers present the same type of smashmouth offense that gave the Lions defensive fits against Iowa.

"I think this is a very similar football team to the one we just played," Paterno said. "They have a tailback, Anthony Davis, that can find a seam and make something happen."

Perhaps even more important for the Badgers is the condition of wide receiver Lee Evans. After injuring his knee last spring, Evans was scheduled to return this week, but his progress has been slower than expected and Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez has indicated that Evans' status will be a game-time decision.

Even if Evans never leaves the sideline, the Badgers still have a deep threat for quarterback Brooks Bollinger in redshirt freshman Jonathan Orr, who is averaging 18 yards per reception.

Orr's presence, not to mention Evans', will only complicate things for Penn State's secondary, which is still trying to adjust to having Chris Harrell step into the hero role full time after losing freshman standout Calvin Lowry for the season to a broken tibia.

However, not everything is going against Penn State. Wisconsin has allowed a conference-high 19 sacks so far, something that has the Lions' defensive linemen waiting eagerly.

"We are going to have a lot of one-on-one," defensive end Michael Haynes said. "And we're going to have to exploit that."

Still, the biggest factor for the Lions might not be who's lining up against them, but rather what is going through their heads. After their dismal start against the Hawkeyes, the Lions rebounded to force overtime, and the team feels like that confidence can carry over to Wisconsin.

"We can compete," cornerback Bryan Scott said. "If we play four solid quarters, we can play with everyone in the conference and on our schedule. We lost, yes, but we also learned a lot from it."

What remains to be seen is just how much.