It was just three years ago, but it has to seem longer ago to him.

It was Oct. 27, 2001, and Zack Mills came off the bench to brilliantly lead Penn State out of an 18-point deficit and past Ohio State, 29-27. Victory was sweet -- record-breaking No. 324 for Penn State coach Joe Paterno -- and the spotlight was suddenly put onto this marvelous teenager.

Mills was a redshirt freshman then, in his first game against Ohio State. Tomorrow, Penn State will play the Buckeyes for the last time in Mills' career. But after sustaining a mild concussion in last Saturday's loss to Iowa, it's a game in which Mills might not even be allowed to play -- and it's part of a senior season he assuredly could not have scripted.

"It's doubtful whether Zack will go," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said last night on the Nittany Lion Hotline Show. "If he had to go [Friday], he wouldn't go. They're running tests, and we might not know until game time."

Mills took his final concussion test yesterday morning, the results of which will not be available until today or tomorrow. If he passes the test, he would be cleared to play, but that doesn't necessarily mean he would start.

The injury has kept Mills out of practice this week, meaning that utility player and backup quarterback Michael Robinson has been taking the majority of the snaps. Because Mills' status has been day-to-day all week, Paterno has been doubtful that Mills will play tomorrow and instead has expected to start Robinson.

"Michael Robinson is going to be the quarterback," Paterno said at his weekly press conference Tuesday. "You have to improvise and try to do some things that people you have can do."

Robinson has only seen limited time at quarterback all season, as he has played mainly at receiver, only assuming the role of signal caller when Mills was injured or on trick plays where Mills lines up at wideout. Paterno, however, has been adamant about the fact that Robinson's primary duty is as Mills' backup and, as such, deferred to him for this weekend.

"Michael Robinson deserves a shot," Paterno said yesterday. "He's a little rusty, a little rusty, but he had a good night tonight, a good practice."

Images of Mills' dazzling freshman performance against Ohio State three years ago have led to a clamoring for Paterno to play true freshman quarterback Anthony Morelli, who has already burned his redshirt year with limited appearances in three games. While playing Morelli would allow Paterno to keep Robinson, the team's most dynamic receiver, at split end, Paterno dismissed the suggestion Tuesday, saying that Morelli "is not adequately prepared."

Mills, however, remembers where he was at this time three years ago and disagrees.

"Anthony has all the physical tools in the world," he said. "He maybe can't do the little things -- read the coverage, pick up the blitz. He's already ahead of me [when I was a freshman] with that. He's well beyond what I was."

Regardless of whether or not Mills is cleared to play, he will travel to Columbus with the team. He has fond memories of what he once did against Ohio State, to be sure, but things change, sometimes they don't work out as planned -- and if anyone knows that, it's Zack Mills.