In the grand scheme of a season gone awry, a 17-7 loss to Northwestern hardly would seem to top the list of its most poignant moments.

The Nittany Lions were 2-7 at the time -- their slim bowl game hopes ended the week before with a heartbreaking one-point loss to Ohio State.

And as tough as it was for the Lions to watch the defending national champion Buckeyes rally in the second half for a victory, it was downright sickening to watch a fourth-quarter lead disappear against the Wildcats.

The sight of a sure interception bouncing out of the hands of Yaacov Yisrael and into those of wide out Brandon Horn's for an improbable touchdown seemed to break not only a 7-7 tie, but the Lions' spirits on a cold and snowy November afternoon.

The fourth-quarter collapse spawned one of the year's most sobering moments when senior Damone Jones screamed at teammates on the sideline for quitting during the game.

And perhaps it was something Joe Paterno and his staff took to heart.

It's been almost a month since spring practice began for the 2004 Lions and they are quickly realizing that preventing those second-half lapses is among Paterno's top priorities.

At his pre-spring practice press conference, Paterno said that while last year's off-the-field problems were a distraction, it was the team's mindset that was its biggest downfall.

"I know a lot of the off-the-field activities probably had some impact, but not nearly as much as the fact that we weren't the kind of football team that played in the fourth quarter expecting to win," Paterno said. "There were very few games that we didn't have a chance to win. I have to look at that as to why we didn't win them. I think we have to just take a good look at things and go back to some things that we have not emphasized enough that we used to emphasize."

And by all early accounts, Paterno has decided that better conditioning -- both physically and mentally -- is the emphasis that's been missing.

At least, that's the impression his players have been giving.

Nearly every Lions player that's been made available in the past two weeks has offered the same assessment of spring practice.

"It's tough," junior guard Tyler Reed said. "We've been doing conditioning toward the middle of practice when our drills are over before we go against the defense.

"We do a little bit of running. It simulates a game situation more or less late in the second quarter or even in the second half, just seeing what guys can do when they are tired. I think it's working out well."

This was especially apparent at last Saturday's coaches' clinic scrimmage. About halfway through the day's drills, the squads lined up at opposing goal lines and ran wind sprints.

Four sets and a brief reprieve later, the first-teamers were right back out running plays.

According to sophomore linebacker BranDon Snow, the drills are meant to prepare the team as much mentally as physically.

"Coach wants us to work on our mental toughness," Snow said. "We have to still be able to play in the fourth quarter. We're conditioning before we practice. We've kept a lot of things simple this spring. So far it's been, just line up and play. We're trying to find out who's going to go to war for us."

And for Paterno, that is the key for rebounding from a 3-9 season. Paterno has seen his 2002 team come back from consecutive back-to-back losing seasons and believes that this year's squad is capable of performing a similar feat.

"As the head coach you have to go in there and make sure that people understand that we were very, very close last year," he said. "We were not tough enough in the clutch when we had an opportunity to get back in some football games and we have to direct our efforts in those areas. We will bounce back."