Joe Paterno is putting his team on a lockdown of sorts.

In order to limit distractions, players haven't and won't be allowed to speak with the media until after the Notre Dame game. It isn't the first time Paterno's done this -- he restricted access twice last season and once the year before.

But, for fans, who could argue with the results?

In the Orange Bowl, for example, Paterno's desire to weed out distractions during finals week apparently worked. The Nittany Lions ended up defeating Florida State 26-23 in triple-overtime after he implemented the verbal lockdown.

"A lot of kids are going to classes and are not quite sure where their classes are -- the university is not quite sure where their classes are half the time," Paterno said at his weekly press conference. "For us to add another burden where they have to talk to newspaper people, that makes it awfully tough.

"I just felt it would be better
for everybody that we eliminate anything that we don't have to do that is going to help us win the game."

At Notre Dame, on the other hand, things went on as usual for the Fighting Irish.

Media were allowed to attend the first 20 minutes of three practices this week, while any and all requested players were made available at the end of each practice.

"There's a lot of stuff around us to distract us, but as long as your head's around what's important, you [should be OK]," Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn said yesterday.

Notre Dame safety Tom Zbikowski echoed Quinn's sentiment, saying there was a lot of hype on campus but that it shouldn't change how the team goes about its matchup against Penn State.

"A lot of people are excited, fans are excited," Zbikowski said. "We don't necessarily have to look at that as a bad thing. We can have fun with it."

Anticipation for this game has been building since it was announced on the schedule several years ago, and plenty of fans are eager to see some of the nation's most prestigious teams duke it out.

The teams last met in 1992, back when Rick Mirer was still thought to have a NFL future. Mirer's two-point conversion pass to Reggie Brooks lifted Notre Dame to the win in the final 20 seconds.

Despite what is regarded as a rivalry, the teams haven't seen each other since.

Still, Paterno was adamant of restricting access because of the high demand for players and the fact it's the first week of school. He said he was afraid of giving his team too much to handle -- senior veterans included.

When asked why he couldn't make an exception to co-captains Levi Brown and Paul Posluszny, the 79-year-old coach starting getting a little irritated.

"I think I answered the first part," Paterno said, raising his voice slightly. "We made a decision, and that's it.

"[It's] in the best interest of the football team."