The defensive line is probably tired of hearing it by now -- Penn State can't stop the run.

Heck, even cornerback Alan Zemaitis is sick of hearing it, and he has nothing to do with the run defense.

"We only played two games," Zemaitis said. "I don't see why we are labeled as not being able to stop the run. I think that's a mistake."

But after a 2003 season in which the team had the 104th ranked run defense in the nation and after a loss against Boston College in which the Eagles wore down the Lions' D with their running game, the assessment is understandable.

The question now is how to change that for the remainder of the season, and, more immediately, how to change that for this Saturday's game against the University of Central Florida.

"We gotta show everybody that we can stop the run," defensive tackle Jay Alford said.

"It's gonna be very important this weekend -- the back they got is a real tough back."

The problems the run defense had against BC are apparent in the statistics: the Eagles ran for a total of 129 yards, with tailback Andre Callender topping 100 yards individually. Penn State coach Joe Paterno said after the game that he would watch the game tapes to see if anyone needed to be moved around, but, as of his press conference Tuesday, there will be no personnel changes.

But even though the defensive line personnel won't be changing -- with the exception of third string end Jason Robinson moving to tight end -- the linemen are working to change how they play.

"I just think we made some critical mistakes in the BC game," Alford said. "We gotta think more, and we'll be OK.

"[It was] minor mistakes like not getting to your gap, just minor stuff. All I think we gotta do is just do it in this next game, and I think we'll be OK."

And, individually, the linemen are working on the weaknesses they and the coaches saw while reviewing the BC tapes. Alford was told he was playing too high on some of the snaps, for instance. And defensive end Tamba Hali, who played tackle last season, still thinks he has a few more adjustments to make.

"I'm a bit to blame," Hali said. "Sometimes I line up wrong and that could be the reason they ran the ball for so many yards."

There won't, however, be all that many changes in the game plan of the line. Alford said that the linemen are just "tweaking" a few things, and that the main change is that there will be more subbing in and out to help keep the guys fresh. And that will certainly be necessary, as Central Florida brings an offense that likes to run and a big strong back, Alex Haynes, who likes to be the runner.

"He's gonna be one of the biggest backs we face," Alford said. "He's more of a power runner than finesse; we're just gonna take it in stride."

But while the linemen always set their sights upon containing the opponent's backfield, that wasn't the only goal of theirs they didn't satisfy at BC.

"We set goals and last game we didn't accomplish any of them," Hali said. "You understand. That shouldn't be a key factor for this Saturday, though. Two years ago Jimmy Kennedy and them set goals every game. We set goals all the time. But the biggest goal is to win the game.

And if there was ever a time for the defensive line to satisfy both goals -- getting rid of the "can't stop the run" stigma and emerging victorious -- Saturday's game would, without a doubt, be it.