Joe Paterno has seen his share of outstanding college quarterbacks in his 55 years at Penn State. But apparently not one of them can accurately describe Purdue's Kyle Orton.

"Orton's a heck of a player," the Penn State coach said. "He reminded me of [Doug] Flutie and that kid they had a couple years back [Drew Brees] and [Ty] Detmer when we played BYU."

Flutie? Brees? Detmer?

At the rate Orton is going through four games, he could have a season to surpass all of them in stature, even though he most likely won't reach Detmer's obscene 5,188-yard Heisman-winning junior season.

The yards may be out of reach, but the Heisman Trophy isn't. And the Nittany Lions secondary is aware that this will be the greatest measuring stick of the season.

"There's nothing magic we can do," safety Andrew Guman said. "These guys are a special offense. The guys he throws to, they're some playmakers. We think we are a great secondary but this week we can prove it."

The Lions secondary prepared for a similar situation back in the first game, facing Akron and talented quarterback Charlie Frye, a sleeper Heisman candidate at the time.

But Frye and the Zips simply had no one to throw to and though the Lions blanketed opposing receivers, allowing only short gains, it didn't end up being the sternest of tests.

Where Frye appeared frustrated from an utter lack of support around him, Orton will have no such problems tomorrow. Leading the way is sure-fire All-American receiver Taylor Stubblefield who Paterno said it feels like he's, "been there for 10 years," with all of his big performances.

Stubblefield already has 28 catches for 505 yards and an incredible 10 touchdowns in his first four games and the burden of keeping him in check, at least at the game's onset, falls to Penn State cornerback Alan Zemaitis, who pulled in a 90-yard interception against Purdue last season.

But it's more than just Stubblefield to worry about. The Boilermakers have perhaps the deepest receiving corps of any team the Lions face this season. Dorien Bryant, Brian Hare and Ray Williams are all consistent receivers and Penn State will also have to deal with 6-foot-9 Kyle Ingraham who is a matchup problem for anyone who covers him.

Because of this depth, Purdue coach Joe Tiller said that double-teaming Stubblefield usually isn't an option for opposing defenses.

"He's seen more of that, although I will say because of our receiving corps, it's harder to do that this year than in the eight years we've been here because of Williams, Hare and Bryant on our roster, as well as Ingraham," Tiller said. "They're collectively the best of any group we've had. When you have more than one talent on the field, it makes it difficult to double cover any one guy."

When trying to defend such a prolific offense, sometimes the strategy has to change. For Penn State, taking Orton and his receivers completely out of the game isn't a realistic option. Pay too much attention to the passing game and the Boilermakers have two more than competent tailbacks in Jerod Void and Brandon Jones to pick up the slack. Jones did just that last season when Void was injured, rushing for 149 yards and two touchdowns.

The key would seem to lie in minimizing Orton's impact on the game, but Paterno isn't so optimistic.

"I don't think you are going to minimize this guy," Paterno said. "They are averaging over 500 yards a ball game. Minimize him is what? I don't know what minimize him is. If we give him three or four turnovers, they will beat us 50-6."