The last time Penn State played Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish came out on top with a 17-15, last-minute victory in the snow.

That was the same weekend, in fact, "Rudy" was filmed on the scenic Notre Dame campus.

There will be no snow as Penn State visits the No. 4 Irish at 3:30 tomorrow afternoon in Notre Dame Stadium, and the Nittany Lions hope there won't be another uplifting Hollywood ending for their hosts, either.

All eyes will be on No. 19 Penn State's versatile defense as it lines up against one of the best offenses in the country.

Notre Dame is led on offense by its four horsemen of offensive efficiency: Quarterback Brady Quinn, tailback Darius Walker and receivers Rhema McKnight and Jeff Samardzija.

Even with that arsenal at his disposal, Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis' first point of order that needed to be addressed this week was his team's penalties and sloppy play in last Saturday's 14-10 victory at Georgia Tech.

"My biggest concern is penalties and mental errors," the second-year head coach said. "When a guy gets beat physically, that's one thing, but another thing is when you have double-digit mental errors."

Cutting down on the line of scrimmage penalties should be the easiest task, but controlling the Penn State defense will be a different story altogether.

Weis can rest assured, though, that Quinn will be able to handle the pressure of the big game, especially without the crowd noise that can sometimes present problems on the road.

Quinn, a leading Heisman Trophy candidate, never lost his composure in last week's come from behind victory at Georgia Tech.

"It's a big plus when you have somebody who's been there and doesn't get rattled," Weis said.

What remains to be seen is how Penn State's first year starter at quarterback, junior Anthony Morelli, holds up his first time away from Beaver Stadium.

Morelli played fairly well in his first start last week against Akron, throwing for 206 yards and three touchdowns.

"He's good, he's very good," Notre Dame safety Tom Zbikowski said. "He was very poised for his first start ... we'll see what happens when he has to go to a more hostile environment."

Since the 2004 season, the Penn State defense has made a habit of turning the playing field into a hostile environment for opposing offenses.

Quinn threw for 300 yards five times last year alone. In their last 24 games, the Lions have given up 300 yards in the air on just three occasions -- none of which came on the road.

With a brand new defensive backfield charged with the task of containing Notre Dame's receivers, the Penn State front seven -- whether arranged in a 4-3 or 3-4 -- must step up to prevent Quinn from feeling comfortable and taking his time in the pocket.

"They're not going to let any big plays happen," Quinn predicted of the Penn State front seven.

Last week against Akron, the Lions used a mixture of three- and four-man fronts, putting middle linebacker Tim Shaw at a hybrid defensive end spot.

Shaw speaks of his days as a linebacker in the past tense, but what Penn State will come up with this week remains to be seen.

While Lions defensive coordinator Tom Bradley must figure out how to contain the Notre Dame offense, Weis said early this week that he is concerned with how to keep Penn State's talented receivers under wraps.

"They're trying to find all the ways they possibly can to get the ball in the [wide receivers'] hands," Weis said.

Weis and Quinn, no doubt, will be doing the same when the Irish have the ball.

The Penn State defense, destroyer of Heisman campaigns a year ago, will look to ensure that Irish eyes will not be smiling.

"As long as we win, it doesn't matter," Zbikowski said. "The best thing about Brady is that he doesn't care about stats -- he wants to win, and that's important."