Ed DeChellis is a motivator -- pure and simple.

His practices and drills revolve around positive reinforcement and building confidence in a team that has precious little of it. But after a heartbreaking last-second loss to Georgetown on Sunday, his players seemed upbeat about the future.

"I feel great," junior forward Jan Jagla said. "We did lose this game, but I feel great. I think we've done a lot of things well. Obviously we've made a lot of mistakes, but they're things we can correct."

Seated next to him, senior Ndu Egekeze practically finished Jagla's sentence, emphasizing that the problems were all correctable.

And while the pupils were critical of the game's outcome, it was the teacher himself who took the loss the hardest.

"Oh, it matters," DeChellis said when asked if the loss was significant in light of the team's performance. "It matters to me a lot. No question. We didn't do what we needed to do to win the game."

DeChellis made it clear he would not be content with a loss. Rather than patting himself on the back for coming close, the first-year coach talked about the need to improve.

"We're careless," DeChellis said. "We're a little foolish with the ball."

And therein lies the dynamic of this season's Nittany Lions. A new coach setting relatively high standards for a team that is maintaining optimism even through failure. And the contrast between DeChellis and his players after Sunday's game suggests that it's paying off.

By the standards set by the previous two incarnations of the Lions, this year's version seems to have improved dramatically. Yet, after two exhibitions and one regular season game, DeChellis has repeated what has become a mantra:

"We need to improve."

Even if DeChellis' squad wins both games this week, chances are his tune won't change. He'll likely focus more on areas that need adjustment than talk about his first win as head coach at Penn State.

In both of these games, the Lions will look to clear the biggest hurdle facing the team -- instilling a winning mindset.

"I don't know if there's a drill we can do every day in practice to get over that," DeChellis said. "We've just got to be positive, make sure guys are in the right place and it'll happen for us."