Doctors have told Penn State linebacker Paul Posluszny he should wear his right knee brace for the rest of the season.

Posluszny would rather have a second opinion.

"The doctors would like me to wear it for the entire season, if it was up to them," Posluszny said of the brace yesterday. "I would much rather go without it. It's a constant debate."

The 2005 Butkus and Bednarik Award winner doesn't know if he will wear the brace Saturday, when the No. 24 Nittany Lions travel to Columbus to face No. 1 Ohio State.

Doctors have ordered that Posluszny wear the brace since he suffered partial tears in the posterior cruciate and medial collateral ligament in Penn State's Orange Bowl win last season.

This isn't the first time the brace has drawn Posluszny's ire this season.

Last week, after Penn State beat Youngstown State, Posluszny voiced his displeasure with the brace, saying he no longer wanted to wear it.

He did offer one bit of good news, though, when he said the team had made him a new brace for that game that felt "a lot better" than the one he wore against Akron and Notre Dame.

"The one I wore in the Youngstown State game is different," Posluszny said. "It's a little bit smaller and lighter and more flexible. Some days I wear it at practice. Some days I don't."

Posluszny was moved from outside linebacker to inside linebacker this season as part of Penn State's new defensive scheme, designed to put four linebackers on the field at a time.

Junior Dan Connor and sophomore Sean Lee now patrol the outside of the field. Converted linebacker Tim Shaw fills a spot on the defensive line as a stand up end.

Some reporters have questioned whether Posluszny's move to the middle was a result of last season's injury, wondering if the senior co-captain isn't as quick as he was last year.

Posluszny said because he didn't need offseason surgery on his knee, he doesn't feel as if he's lost a step.

"Movement-wise, there's not a whole lot of difference with playing inside linebacker or outside," he said. "I don't think they moved me inside because they thought I wouldn't be able to move as well."

A reporter asked Connor yesterday if he still had full faith in Posluszny after the injury.

"A lot of people have confidence in the rehab and medical staff here," Connor said. "When they let you back, we know and expect you to be at full go. It looks to me like Paul is playing really well."

Posluszny's output so far this season hasn't been far behind that of last year, when he was an outside linebacker. In three games this season, he has totaled 27 tackles, 12 of them solo. At this point last year, he had 26 total tackles, 17 solo.

Posluszny said if he continues to wear the brace, it will be the one he wore against Youngstown State.

But that doesn't mean he's still not searching for the second opinion he really wants.

"We'll see what happens," he said.