When the Penn State men's rugby team takes to the pitch for this weekend's clash with Towson State University, it will mark the second time in the season's first three weeks that it has played outside of Happy Valley.

Tomorrow's highly anticipated tilt between unbeatens comes on the heels of one of the more lopsided matches in recent Penn State rugby history, last Sunday's 103-0 win against George Mason, and sees the Ruggers facing a significantly higher level of competition.

"We always have tough matches at Towson," Penn State head coach Don Farrell said. "They've beaten us before when we had a really good team, so it's a team that you can't take lightly."

The match will also be Penn State's introduction to perhaps the most improved team in the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union [MARFU]. With a new head coach in South African import Jan Pretorius manning the helm and a number of new exciting players, and a respected group of talented forwards its no wonder Towson seems to be the talk of the young season.

"They've got a new coach. So that probably means a new system, and I'm sure they've been working very hard to unleash it," Farrell said. "We're going to need to bring the defense, because they're going to put us under some pressure."

Playing Penn State only adds to the anticipation for the Towson side, as a match against the Ruggers is a match against one of the best teams in the country.

Playing Penn State gives Towson a chance to prove itself --a chance to make some noise.

"I know that they're very confident and excited coming into the match," Farrell said. "Pretty much everyone we play, [Penn State] is their big match. They get up; it's been circled for a year."

All indications point towards a tough, physical match between the two MARFU opponents, when Penn State's high-powered offense, which is responsible for 131 points in its two games this year, goes up against a Towson defense that has only surrendered six points in its two games.

If the result is as close as anticipated, these two relatively young teams could ignite a rivalry that could last for years to come.