This week has been a healing process of sorts for Penn State.

After the Nittany Lions were thoroughly shellacked by Notre Dame last Saturday, Joe Paterno told his players to remember the 1983 Penn State team that went on to win the national title after an embarrassing loss to Alabama in its fifth game.

The team even had an airing-out session, center A.Q. Shipley said, where veteran players like Shipley, Levi Brown, Paul Posluszny and Jay Alford tried to rally the spirits.

"It was tough, and part of me is still getting over it," sophomore wideout Jordan Norwood said of the loss to Notre Dame. "Part of getting
over it is getting back on the field Saturday. I'm looking forward to it."

Consider tomorrow a trip to the infirmary for the Lions.

No. 25 Penn State (1-1) will take on the Division I-AA Youngstown State Penguins in the friendly confines of Beaver Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.

Tomorrow's game will be the Lions' last tune-up before they face Ohio State, the top-ranked team in the country, in Columbus on Sept. 23.

Penn State should get plenty of chances to iron out the last of its early season kinks.

The last time Youngstown State (2-0) played a Div. I-A team, it lost 41-0 to University of Pittsburgh. Regardless, Paterno doesn't expect a wide-eyed Youngstown State team to make the trip from Ohio's Mahoning Valley to Pennsylvania's Happy Valley, especially after Northwestern fell to Div. I-AA New Hampshire last week.

"I don't think they are going to come up here and say, 'Ohhhh,' " Paterno said. "They are coming up here and saying, 'Show me.' That is what is great about the game of football."

Two other Div. I-AA schools, Richmond and Montana State, have also beaten Div. I-A schools this year.

In an overall lackluster performance against Notre Dame, the Penn State offense failed to find a rhythm and turned the ball over three times. Defensively, Penn State allowed Heisman frontrunner Brady Quinn to throw for 229 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone.

The theme of this week has been moving on and correcting the mistakes made in South Bend.

"Learning from mistakes is one thing, but attitude is another," defensive lineman/linebacker Tim Shaw said. "Bad things happened out there [at Notre Dame], and we want to get over them."

Youngstown State may not be Ohio State or Notre Dame, but in the Div. I-AA ranks, it's no pushover. The Penguins have won four I-AA national titles. Ohio State head coach Jim

Tressel also coached there before moving south to Columbus.

Ron Jaworski, the former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback and 1980 NFL Most Valuable Player, played at Youngstown State, where he has the record for most games with at least 200 yards passing, with 12. Current Penguin quarterback Tom Zetts is quickly closing in on his record 200-yard passing games, now with nine.

With one loss already, the Lions have a slim margin of error if they want to keep their Bowl Championship Series hopes alive. And they don't care if the road to a January bowl game goes through Youngstown on its way to Columbus.

"It doesn't matter who the opponent is," junior quarterback Anthony Morelli said. "I just want to win. Ohio State, Michigan, Youngstown State, whoever it may be. It doesn't matter how good or bad I do, I just want to put a 'W' on the board -- you know, no more losses."

A win tomorrow would go a long way for Penn State to cure its wounds from last week, as Penn State finally gets a chance to turn the page from Notre Dame to Youngstown State.

"You can't live on those last plays," sophomore cornerback Justin King said. "You've got to live on the next plays."