Derek Wake has seen this all before. He's been up close to this scene for the past four years, taking in all of the emotions involved, studying how people react.

But though this will be the fifth senior day that Wake will have been around for, that fact has not made it easier for the linebacker to deal with his own final run out of the tunnel.

"When you were young, you could see the older guys going out," Wake said. "Some of them were crying, some of them were cheering. I have no idea what's going to happen, and thinking about it now, it's going to be hard going out of the tunnel for the last time. And, regardless of what happens in my life, I'll never have something like that again."

It has been a long and often painful road for Wake and most of the other 12 seniors who will be playing their final games for the Nittany Lions tomorrow against Michigan State. These seniors hold the unenviable distinction of being a part of one of the worst stretches in coach Joe Paterno's 55-year reign on Penn State's coaching staff.

The point has already been made about the most visible of the seniors, embattled four-year starting quarterback Zack Mills, who despite breaking nearly every school passing record faces a rather anticlimactic final game.

"I'm kinda just gonna take everything in a little bit more than usual and just enjoy it," Mills said. "Enjoy coming off the bus and running out that tunnel for the last time."

Though Mills has much to reflect on about his up-and-down career, so do the remaining seniors.

Wake has had to deal with a torn MCL as a sophomore and his struggle to live up to the hype around him. Others, like fullback Paul Jefferson, have had to deal with problems on and off the field, returning from a season off to reclaim a starting position this season.

And now that it's coming to an end, players like Jefferson can't help but be a bit reflective of things.

"You know, five weeks ago I was thinking that it's getting time to move on, but as this last week approaches, you get sad a bit," Jefferson said. "I'm never gonna play another college football game. I'm nervous for the last game, but excited because we're preparing to win and take steps to move on in life."

Things are especially tough for these seniors because of the 29 of them who came in on scholarship, only a small handful remain. Much has been made in last few weeks about how heralded this recruiting class was and how disappointing it has ended up, and that fact cannot be avoided.

Of the 13 current players being introduced tomorrow, only five will likely be starting -- Mills, Wake, Jefferson, safety Andrew Guman and kicker Robbie Gould. Three others -- Scott Davis, John Bronson and Gerald Smith -- have seen significant playing time and starting time in the past.

And a 14th player, one who will not be suited up, will join them.

Adam Taliaferro will join his classmates coming out of the tunnel, but the spinal injury he suffered as a true freshman that ended his career makes his path to this day the most tragic of all. But after a lengthy rehab, things are looking brighter for Taliaferro, and in turn, the entire class.

Taliaferro, who was once told he would never walk again, will walk out of the tunnel tomorrow and, regardless of the outcome, walk toward law school after graduating in December. Amidst the wide range of emotions that will come from the Penn State's 2004 senior day, Taliaferro's story speaks for his class as a whole.

It's time to move on.

"It's definitely gonna be an emotional moment for me," Mills said. "I've seen it happen four times and you don't think about it when the time comes. It's definitely gonna be very emotional for me to run out there....It's all coming to an end Saturday."