When ESPN's College GameDay crew came to Penn State last year for the Nittany Lions' Oct. 8 17-10 win against Ohio State, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said the Penn State student section was the best in the country.

This weekend, Nittany Lion fans will have another chance to impress the cast from the popular program. But this time, it will be away from Happy Valley.

ESPN's College GameDay will originate from Columbus this week when the No. 24 Lions face off against the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes.

The program is set to air from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The game will kick off at 3:30 p.m.

"I'm sure they just try to look at what would be the greatest fan interest," Penn State Director of Brand Communications Guido D'Elia said. "We must have won out this week. I think it'll be a great game. I know it's one Ohio State fans are certainly looking forward to after last year."

This Saturday will mark the third time in Penn State's last 10 regular season games that GameDay has featured the Lions.

In addition to last year's Ohio State-Penn State game, the program also originated from last year's Penn State-Michigan State game in East Lansing, Mich.

Penn State fans have a history of traveling well for the program. During last year's game against Michigan State, many Lions' supporters made the 455-mile trip from Happy Valley to East Lansing.

"It was excellent," D'Elia said. "In fact, they felt they had as many people from Penn State there as they had from Michigan State. I think the GameDay people were amazed when they came here for the Ohio State game, and they were equally impressed when GameDay was held at Michigan State."

Last year's Ohio State-Penn State game attracted 109,865 fans, the third largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history.

Ohio State's Ohio Stadium holds 101,568, and a high-energy crowd, much like the one at last year's game, is expected.

"I'm sure they'll have a packed house," Penn State linebacker Paul Posluszny said. "I'm sure those guys are going to be extremely fired up for the game. It's going to be exciting all across the board. I'm sure it's going to be a great crowd."

D'Elia said the program adds an "extra dimension" to the weekend. With satellite stations like ESPN2 and ESPNU, he said ESPN can provide coverage that other stations cannot.

D'Elia said is confident that coverage will include many excited Penn State fans in Columbus.

"The Penn State fans have really distinguished themselves with the GameDay people," D'Elia said. "And they know when they schedule GameDay and it involves Penn State, they're going to get a fine turnout."