It's not easy being a fullback.

After blocking away opposing linebackers in relative obscurity for most of the year, BranDon Snow was sweating Saturday. The game was already over, and he had already taken a shower.

"Let me just wipe off your forehead," defensive end Matthew Rice said, using his sweatshirt to dry off Snow, a junior, a little bit.

"I am glistening," Snow admitted.

Rice then sauntered off to a separate part of the media room, announcing: "That man's workin' hard today!"

With Jerome Bettis-like numbers, two carries for 6 yards (both touchdowns), Snow exemplified Penn State football grit against Purdue, as part of a rushing attack that gained 303 yards. Nittany Lions tailback Tony Hunt turned in a textbook performance of hard-nosed running, churning his way through tackle after tackle en route to 129 yards rushing.

Snow said he doesn't need the glory normally reserved for those other football positions.

"I'd much rather see Tony get the credibility he deserves," Snow said.

Hunt's style was never more evident Saturday than at the end of his 18-yard run late in the fourth quarter, when he lowered his shoulder against Boilermakers cornerback Zach Logan.

"He de-cleated him, yo," Lions quarterback Michael Robinson said. "If it weren't for [Logan] hangin' on to the back of Tony's jersey, it would've been so nasty. That has to be on 'Plays of the Week.' It has to be."

Robinson was a major player in the Lions rushing attack, too.

Despite Purdue's best blitzing efforts, Robinson managed to evade pressure all but once. He finished the day with 96 yards on 19 rushes, mostly on those desperate scrambles.

Robinson still made sure to credit Hunt, though, for getting the tough yards when the offense, which struggled moving the ball at times, needed tough yards.

"He's one of the best backs in the league. I really think so," Robinson said. "I mean, who out there runs harder?"

It would be hard for Robinson to find a back that blocks better, too.

"I get on him because if they don't blitz, he's still in there trying to block, and I'm like, 'You have to get out on your route because sometimes I'm looking for you,' " Robinson said.

Hunt has been forced, probably unfairly, to continue to backup his starting cred every week, thanks to the echoing buzz that is still around backup Austin Scott from his record-setting high school career.

Hunt knew Scott would be breathing down his neck for playing time, and Hunt wanted to stay on the field any way he could.

"When he first caught my attention, he was more concerned with blocking than running, honestly. He didn't necessarily want the ball all the time," Robinson said. "Don't tell him I told you, but I'll tell you how he thought he got the job. He said, 'Everybody wants Austin in there, so I have to do something to make them always put me on the field.' He said, 'If I can block better, at least I'll get on the field and hopefully they'll slip up and call a run play.' "

Unlike Hunt, Snow said that at the beginning of the year, he was pretty vocal with Robinson and the coaches about getting the ball.

Snow said he was open on a lot of pass routes, but he also knows it's not always the fullback's place to be the center of attention.

He did get his 15 minutes of fullback fame after the game, spending a few extra seconds in the team tunnel throwing high fives to fans while Lions wide receiver Terrell Golden yelled, "Look at B-Snow! Two TDs tonight!"

Snow wasn't about to let his head blow up, though.

"Hey, as long as we win, it really doesn't matter," he said.