It's been a long time since Penn State was 4-0.

The last time the Nittany Lions started the season with four straight victories was in 1999, when they began with nine consecutive wins.

Among those nine victims were powerhouses like No. 8 Miami, No. 18 Ohio State and No. 16 Purdue, and, heading into their Nov. 6, 1999, game with Minnesota, the Nittany Lions were the second-ranked team in the land.

The Golden Gophers changed all that with a last-second field goal set up by a miraculous fourth-and-16 catch by Minnesota's Arland Bruce on a ball that was deflected by Penn State's Derek Fox.

Heading into tomorrow's 3:30 p.m. contest against No. 18 Minnesota (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten), Penn State (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) has yet to recover.

In the six years since that stunning upset, the two programs have gone through a reversal of fortunes that seemed almost as impossible as Bruce's catch. Minnesota has gone 35-27. Penn State has gone 27-25.

"We were on a 16 or 17 game winning streak or something like that. They had a Hail Mary at the end of the game," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "The kid just grabbed that ball before it hit the ground, and it gave them a chance to kick a field goal and beat us. I remember it. Not with fond memories, though."

Before that game, Penn State had actually won 11 games in a row, dating back to the 1998 season.

Though obviously none of the players on this year's roster were involved in that game, avenging the hurt that Min-

nesota has put on the Nittany Lions' program in recent years is definitely on the mind of Penn State's players as they prepare for tomorrow's contest.

"I think we can compete against anybody in the nation," Penn State safety Calvin Lowry said. "Everybody's confident with 4-0. It's been a long time since we were 4-0. They were [No. 2] and ended up losing in Beaver Stadium."

Penn State enters this Saturday's game unranked -- the Nittany Lions have not been ranked higher than 10th in the nation since the end of the 1999 season -- but instead hope to knock off a highly ranked Minnesota team.

After last weekend's overtime victory over Purdue, Minnesota jumped all the way to its current perch in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, and, led by Heisman candidate and tailback Laurence Maroney, the Gophers have the top-ranked rushing offense in the country.

"That is one of the better offensive lines I have seen in college football. They have a great tailback," Paterno said. "They make up their minds they are going to run and intimidate you. When your offense is over 700 yards against a team like Purdue, they are a heck of an offensive football team."

Minnesota's defense will also be a challenge for Penn State's offensive line because they play a different style than the other defensive lines that the Nittany Lions have faced this year.

While most college teams play a system with their defensive ends and tackles occupying numbered gaps in the offensive line, the Golden Gophers play a face-up system in which the lineman are assigned to a particular blocker.

This keeps offensive lineman from getting upfield and keeps the linebackers clean of blockers, allowing them to make plays.

"They are a big, physical defense. They have some down guys that are coming back on the defensive line," guard Tyler Reed said. "They play a little bit more head up than in the gap, so we're going to have to work on that in practice this week."

Logistical considerations aside, this Penn State team feels as though it is ready to avenge losses in the last four games of the series, including the loss in 1999.

"It's a team that is not going to fold no matter what situations we are put in and no matter what we come up against," defensive end Matthew Rice said.