EVANSTON, Ill. - There was one consolation Michael Robinson took away from the week's worth of preparation he put in for the Northwestern game on Saturday.

He was notified what position he would play on Monday, and he wasn't sitting in front of a radio.

Against the Wildcats, Robinson found his talents were best suited as starting tailback, a decision the coaching staff informed him about just two days after sitting out the entire Ohio State game as the No. 2 quarterback behind Zack Mills. In previous weeks, the redshirt sophomore has found out as late as a day before the game what position he would be playing.

"It's like rolling the dice," Robinson said. "I don't know whether I'm going to get a seven and win the money, or if I'm going to crap out. They just told me, 'Mike, we're going to have to use you at other places' and that's just what I did."

Following the game, the less-than-thrilled Robinson said while he wants to be on the field as much as possible, he's not exactly sure the spot for him in the backfield is running back. Freshmen tailbacks Austin Scott and Tony Hunt both were able to play, but did not step on the field for a single down.

Even Robinson was asking himself why.

"I want to be a quarterback, of course," Robinson said. "Obviously I want to be on the field, but I think the competition at the quarterback spot is unhealthy for us right now, so they had to move me and use me to help the team."

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno did not give an in-depth reason for the switch, other than the team need

ed to get Robinson and his athleticism on the field. He finished the day with 15 carries for 47 yards for an average of 2.7 yards per carry. It was ultimately fullback Sean McHugh who ran for the most yards on the team with 79.

"[Robinson] can do other things," Paterno said. "It was effective for a while. In fact he looked pretty good for a while."

By practicing at running back during the week, Robinson ran with the first team offense and saw much less time with the second team at quarterback. The basic premise is that the more reps he gets as a tailback, the fewer he gets as play caller.

"They said I was going to have to play tailback and wide receiver so I had to get some more reps there," Robinson said. "I did go with the quarterbacks to the meetings and I did get reps at quarterback. But it was mainly a tailback and receiver type thing. It's not like they're telling me to do things I haven't already learned"

Robinson went on to say that he knows the offense's entire playbook, so the learning curve as he flip-flops between running back and quarterback is negligible. At this point, the bottom line seems to be that with Robinson as the featured back, the Lions' have yet to win.

"It's just one of those things," Robinson said. "They just tell me where to play, and I go out there and do it. They tell me Monday what my role will be for the week."