When people think about the Big Ten, they rarely think about Northwestern.

In a conference that features such storied programs as Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan, the Wildcats are an afterthought. A nobody.

Since Era Parseghian left NU in 1963, the Wildcats have gone 133-314-4 and have joined Indiana as a team that the Big Ten powerhouses expect to beat year in and year out.

On the list of important things to come out of Northwestern, the football team ranks pretty low; Brent Musburger, Michael Wilbon, Stephen Colbert, Jerry Reinsdorf ... then maybe Wildcats football in a tie for 179th with David Schwimmer.

Which makes Penn State's consecutive losses to the Wildcats an unhappy topic of conversation for the Nittany Lions.

"The last two years against Northwestern they weren't a great team, and we felt we could have done a lot better against them than we did," Penn State tight end Isaac Smolko said.

"It has kind of stuck in our heads, and I think we are trying to take care of that this year."

Entering the 2003 season, Northwestern had beaten Penn State exactly once. That was in 1995 when Darnell Autry carried the Wildcats to an undefeated regular season and a berth in the Rose Bowl.

Penn State spanked the Wildcats 49-0 in 2002, but in 2003 it was a different story.

In that game, Noah Herron, now with the Pittsburgh Steelers, reeled off 180 yards on 31 carries.

Penn State, meanwhile, failed to get any points on two trips into the red zone.

And the Wildcats came out on top, 17-7, on their home turf.

"They just went in there and physically outplayed us," said safety Chris Harrell, who started the 2003 contest but didn't record a tackle, an apt indicator of Penn State's defensive struggles.

"That's something we don't want to repeat so we have a very different mindset. This time we are going to play with a whole new intensity and aggressiveness."

"[That was a] long, long trip home," quarterback Michael Robinson said, recalling that dreary day. "A long, sad trip home. We really felt disgusted with ourselves because we didn't play to the best of our ability."

2004 turned out to be a nightmarish case of déjà vu for Penn State, with the Nittany Lions again allowing Herron to rush for nearly 180 yards, again failing to score two on two separate trips to the red zone, and again losing the game, this time 14-7 at Beaver Stadium.

It was the first time Northwestern had ever won in Happy Valley.

"We just staggered around in there at different times when we could have made some things happen," coach Joe Paterno said after that contest. "We just didn't make them happen."

This year, a certain amount of optimism surrounds Penn State entering this weekend's game against the Wildcats in Evanston, Ill.

Penn State is 3-0 and coming off of a pair of convincing victories, albeit over some clearly inferior competition. The Lions are looking forward for a chance to return the Wildcats to their role as conference whipping boys.

"We are definitely motivated by the past couple of years. They have managed to pull out a couple of wins on us," linebacker Tim Shaw said Tuesday.

"We feel like we should have won so we are definitely extra motivated by those losses. We really just want to show we can play with them and that we are better than them."

The Lions know that a win Saturday will not completely repair their damaged reputation as a powerhouse within the conference.

But they also know that it would be a good place to start -- in a place where they were humbled so thoroughly two years ago.

"I think a lot of teams in the Big Ten don't respect us as much as they maybe used to," Smolko said.

"Obviously the last two seasons give them a reason not to, but I guess we think we feel like we are overlooked a little bit. This is the chance that we have been waiting for, and this is what we are looking forward to."

Said defensive end Tamba Hali: "Payback is due."