Maybe it was Homecoming weekend.

A Saturday afternoon when Wisconsin came to town and racked up 234 rushing yards, 119 of which came from third-stringer Booker Stanley.

Or perhaps it was earlier in the season against Nebraska, when the Cornhuskers trampled the Nittany Lions with 337 yards on the ground, running the ball 72 times out of 78 plays.

It may have even come when some guy named BenJarvus Green-Ellis accumulated 203 rushing yards for Indiana, giving the obscure Hoosiers tailback the highest individual total against the Lions in more than two seasons.

Regardless of the moment when Penn State's 2003 run defense hit rock bottom, this year's entirely revamped version has plenty of reasons for motivation.

2,509 of them, to be exact.

That would be the net rushing total that the Lions surrendered last year. More than 209 yards per game -- good for just 10th in the conference and a none-too-flattering 104th out of 117 teams in Div. I-A.

The porous front seven of last year's team didn't go unnoticed by the opposition. Penn State opponents ran so much that for a portion of the early to midseason, the Lions ranked first in pass defense.

"I think the statistics are misleading," Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez said at the time. "They've played against teams that have run an awful lot."

The Lions ended up finishing third in the country in pass defense, allowing just 153.33 yards per game. The more telling statistic might be that the Lions had only 311 passes thrown against them, tying them for third fewest in the nation.

All well and good, but Penn State coach Joe Paterno isn't deluding himself into thinking everything's fine.

"We didn't handle the run well enough last year in the clutch," Paterno said. "We are going to go out there and make it a top priority. There are obvious ways you can do things and you can pick people based on the fact of their ability to tackle as opposed to their ability to do other things."

To Paterno's credit, he and his staff have made some personnel moves in the offseason that would seem to better suit certain players' talents.

Tomorrow's annual Blue-White game will give the public its first glimpse of those moves, which have already been subject to much debate among the fan base.

Tamba Hali and Derek Wake have both been moved to defensive end. The 6-foot-2, 257-pound Hali played primarily at defensive tackle his first two seasons, despite being a lauded pass rusher coming out of high school from the end position.

"[Paterno] wasn't going to move me, but he moved me before spring ball started because he had the depth," Hali said. "Right now it looks like I will be there the entire spring and possibly this fall. I think I can stop the run and the pass from the outside. I'd rather rush the passer because it lets me work with my speed coming off the ball."

Not a single player on the Lions' projected first-team front seven started last year's opener at his current position. Defensive tackle Jay Alford is the only one of the seven to even have extensive time as a starter at his current position, getting the nod in the final eight games of last season.

Fellow tackle Scott Paxson, saw some time last year, but started only one game.

Despite the line shuffling, guard Tyler Reed said that the front four still have put up a good fight against the first team offensive line.

"Alford's been playing very well and Scott Paxson's also been playing very well," Reed said. "The D-line does a lot of switching around -- more than the offensive line does -- because they're doing a lot of running around out there. All those guys are doing really well right now."

As for the linebackers, the most experienced is true sophomore Paul Posluszny, who saw a good deal of time toward the end of last season.

Though Posluszny has just eight games of experience under his belt at linebacker, it's eight more than his current partners combined.

Redshirt sophomores BranDon Snow and Tim Shaw currently man the middle and weakside positions, respectively, after both started their collegiate careers on the other side of the ball.

Shaw saw mop-up time at running back in 2002 behind Larry Johnson and Snow was a backup fullback last season.

Now their charge is to help resuscitate a run defense rather than compliment a run offense. Snow believes he can help the process, but not without some help.

"I don't think one person can accomplish that," Snow said. "I guess for me as a middle linebacker, I'm somewhat supposed to be a leader and an inspiration to the defense. Those are some intangibles I think I can bring."

With such turnover among the front seven, it will be apparent very quickly how the new-look front handles the run this season.

And the early part of tomorrow's game could be a decent indicator with Austin Scott and Tony Hunt running behind an offensive line that is looking to gel.

Wake -- the only senior among the group -- will be looked at for leadership, but any other contributors would be welcome. And Hali is volunteering.

"I can consider myself one of those guys who steps up to the plate and gets things done," he said.