Since Forest Mullinary was old enough to speak, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been his No. 1 passion -- literally.

"My mom swears that my first word was football," Mullinary (senior-telecommunications) said.

It is no surprise then that Mullinary, who grew up in Pittsburgh, is heading back to his hometown to watch the Steelers play in the team's first Super Bowl appearance in a decade.

"Pittsburgh is the Steelers and the Steelers are Pittsburgh," he said. "The whole town revolves around this team and if they win it's gonna be pandemonium in the streets."

Mullinary said he is confident in a Steelers victory and that it will be a storybook ending for Jerome Bettis to play his last game in Detroit, his hometown. If they do win, it will be the culmination of a lifelong dream for Mullinary.

"I always said if the Steelers could win just one Super Bowl when I was young enough to enjoy it, I could die a happy man," he said.

Other students are keeping their Super Bowl celebrations local and the planning is already under way.

Darryl Macko (sophomore-landscape contracting design) decided to have a tailgate party for Pittsburgh's first playoff game against Cincinnati. Since that first game, the tailgate has gotten bigger and bigger, taking on a life of its own.

Last week, more than 50 people showed up to cheer on the Steelers together. And Macko said he knows how to get his tailgaters in game mode.

"We play all Steelers songs right before the game," Macko said. "It reminds us of going to the Steelers games."

Macko, whose friends call him a bona fide, die-hard Pittsburgh fan, wears his love for his team on his sleeve.

"I got a tattoo on my right arm, right down my tricep, that says Steelers," he said.

Kevin Kurtz, who graduated from Penn State in December, has been gearing up for the game since the

AFC Championship two weeks ago. He has been ready for the Steelers' return to football's biggest stage for most of his life.

"I've been a Steelers fan since I knew what football was," Kurtz said.

Kurtz has his game day outfit picked out and his Terrible Towels in tow. While Kurtz is staying in State College to watch the game, he plans on bringing a little bit of Pittsburgh to Happy Valley.

"I'm considering cooking up some traditional Pittsburgh dishes: kielbasa, sauerkraut and Iron City Beer," he said.

Kurtz said right now is a great time to be a Steelers fan.

"For people my age, hopefully this is the start of what the Steelers were in the '70s when they got the four rings," he said. "It's time they bring that fifth ring back to us."

Paul Ewing and his roommates have taken their devotion to a whole new level. Decorated with a 7-foot cutout of Ben Roethlisberger, framed Terrible Towels, a Steelers shower curtain and black and gold bath towels, they have converted their apartment into a Steelers shrine.

"We just wanted to deck out the entire main room with Steelers paraphernalia," Ewing said.

While the Steelers masses are gathering in State College and Pittsburgh for Sunday's game, others are taking to the road and making the pilgrimage to Detroit -- or at least trying to.

"If I could have gotten my hands on a ticket, I'd be biking, hitchhiking or walking all the way to Detroit," Chris Daniels (junior-petroleum and natural gas engineering) said.

For Dan McKenna (senior-marketing), Daniel's Super Bowl dream became a reality just a few weeks ago. McKenna won two Super Bowl tickets in the season ticket-holders' lottery and will be heading to Detroit tomorrow with 12 other friends to cheer the Steelers to victory.

Tino Rionda (senior-biochemistry and molecular biology) will be joining McKenna in Detroit come Sunday and he said he would treasure every second.

"It's one of those things that may not come again for another 40 years," Rionda said. "It's here now, and you just wanna remember it all."