When the Nittany Lions left Wisconsin with a 34-31 win in the fifth game of the 2002 season, everything seemed right.

Penn State was back, validated by a 4-1 record after a tough road win.

Time has since revealed the truth.

After a 3-9 record in 2003, the Lions are nothing more than back to where they were before that road win over Wisconsin. The idea that 2002 was Penn State's return to glory was overblown, and the Lions (2-1) are again fighting to prove they deserve national respect.

It's timely, then, that the Lions, who are clearly at an important juncture in a crossroads season, will again travel to Camp Randall Stadium in Madison to take on the 20th-ranked Badgers at 5:45 p.m. tomorrow, where they'll hope to find some remnants of their former selves.

A win in this game, which will be televised on ESPN, could amend some of Penn State's numerous shortcomings in the past two years since the win in Wisconsin.

A win would be a road win, something the Lions didn't have at all last season.

A win would be a win over a Top-25 team, something Penn State hasn't done since 2002.

"We have a lot to prove," junior offensive tackle Andrew Richardson said. "We aren't going to be in the basement of the Big Ten anymore. We can open a lot of people's eyes this week."

And a win would, quite simply, be a big win. Arguably, Penn State hasn't won a meaningful game since that clutch Wisconsin victory in what was ultimately a 9-4 season.

But most of all, for the Penn State program, a win would be a step toward regaining the respect that eroded away during the two years since the last win over the Badgers (3-0). Teams don't fear Penn State as they used to.

"Last year, we were playing teams, and on the field, guys were telling jokes to each other," utility player Michael Robinson said. "You could actually hear them like coming back to the huddle laughing, making jokes. I never thought I'd hear that."

The respect lost in two years certainly won't be earned back in a single game, but the implications of a win in Madison would be a good place to start.

Of course, that doesn't mean it's going to be an easy place to start.

Wisconsin has a team that is a pretty typical of the squads the Badgers have fielded in recent years. They have a fleet tailback in sophomore Booker Stanley, an effective quarterback in sophomore John Stocco and a hard-nosed defense led by All-Big Ten defensive tackle Anttaj Hawthorne and All-Big Ten safety Jim Leonhard, both seniors.

And with Camp Randall hosting this week's ESPN College GameDay, the Wisconsin fans, who are often mentioned as the most hostile in the country under any circumstance, could be even more rowdy than usual. It ought to be the kind of intense environment in which Lions need to learn how to win.

"That's good for us," Richardson said. "We need that."

This is the start of an important stretch for Penn State, a long road that only begins in Wisconsin and continues in Minnesota next Saturday. But without a start, the Lions will never get to where they want to go and where they seemed to be nearly two years ago.

"What we have to do to be a good football team is to take everything one game at a time," fullback Paul Jefferson said, citing an old football adage that, though cliché, is appropriate in this case. "It's gonna take a lot more that that to convince people that we're back."