Come Saturday, it will be replaced by 80,000 fans storming to their feet, by people tailgating for five hours just to catch a quick glimpse of an instant classic, and by players with no other desire than to beat the living snot out of the other team.

But, for now, a mutual respect sits like the calm before a storm.

After all, Penn State and Notre Dame don't seem to be that different -- at least when it comes to the football programs.

Both schools have been playing on the gridiron for more than 115 years, have a combined 1,583 wins and
are home to a slew of former NFL players.

Even Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn didn't shy away when asked about his overall take on the Nittany Lions.

"You gotta have a lot of respect for them. You're always hoping that when you're being recruited, they're knocking on your door," Quinn said yesterday. "Joe Paterno is a legendary coach, and there's a lot of tradition their program represents.

"More than anything else, I'd say we have a lot of respect for them."

Obviously, there has to be some mutual admiration between the two squads: Penn State and Notre Dame are each ranked within the top four on the all-time winning percentage list. The Fighting Irish are second, and the Lions are fourth -- a little more than three one-hundredths of a point behind Notre Dame.

The fans may not like each other, and the two will obviously be enemies on game day. But it's difficult to say bad things about a program you grew up with.

Joe Paterno, raised a Catholic and born in Brooklyn, recalled listening to the 1936 game between Notre Dame and Ohio State on the radio. Paterno agreed that Notre Dame wasn't just for the Irish when he was a kid -- as an Italian, it was a school he also looked up to.

"Notre Dame is a fine football team, one of the better football teams in the country, and it'll be a challenge," Paterno said.

Notre Dame safety Tom Zbikowski seemed like he could relate. The senior leader admitted he was "a little bit of a Penn State fan" when he was younger, initially saying that meant this was a pretty big game for him.

After a moment, though, he recanted the last part.

"I have no idea why," he said, laughing.

Individually, big game or not, the Penn State-Notre Dame contest is obviously one of the more intriguing match-ups -- and will likely be the most-watched game come Saturday afternoon.

And if it won't be watched because of either team's talent or storied histories, then the coaches could just as easily step in the limelight.

Paterno has two national championships; Charlie Weis has four Super Bowl rings.

And despite the fact that Weis is running out of fingers, he still had a compliment or two for Paterno.

"It's no big secret that Coach Paterno is one of the legends of the game," Weis said. "I'll never be able to achieve what Coach Paterno's achieved."