The Penn State defense doesn't want a repeat of last week.
It doesn't want Illinois tailback Rashard Mendenhall to look like Mark Hart in a different uniform. So what does it want?
"I want the defense to have the attitude that they should have no rushing yards against us," defensive end Maurice Evans said. "Mike Hart was the first 100-yard rusher [against us], right? We need to stop the run and play hard."
Mendenhall, the reigning Big Ten player of the week, rushed for a career-high 214 yards in a win at Indiana last Saturday.
He's listed at 5-foot-11 and 224-pounds, is the conference's second-leading rusher (134 yards per game) and is tied for the lead in scoring.
Penn State, meanwhile, allowed Michigan's Hart to amass 153 yards and more than 40 carries.
It was a rare defensive meltdown for the Lions' rush defense, which is still ranked sixth best in the nation, giving up just more than 50 yards per game, best in the Big Ten.
But Illinois rushing offense is fifth best in the country, averaging 265.5 yards on the ground. Someone, though, will win this battle.
"It's all technique and being on top of all the little things. ... You can't make mistakes. You can't line up wrong," said linebacker Dan Connor, adding that these were the errors he saw watching film of the Michigan game. "You can't do anything wrong like that. This game is back to the fundamentals -- get back on what you can do."
Mendenhall and sometimes-option quarterback Isiah "Juice" Williams combine for 65 percent of the Illini's rushing offense, giving the Lions two obvious players to key on.
That's how it's been this season and last for Mendenhall and Williams, but still they've been able to find success when defenses know what's coming.
"I was telling Rashard and the offensive linemen, when I was with the Pittsburgh Steelers, sometimes we would come out and [Jerome Bettis] wouldn't move really well that first quarter," said Illinois coach Ron Zook, a special teams coach with the Steelers from 1996-98.
"But he'd keep banging away, and by the third quarter, no one could stop him. Sometimes you have to be patient. Just keep running."
Mendenhall, a junior, rushed enough to rank eighth nationally last season. His brief 2006 stop in State College left an impression.
"He's tough kid. He's a downhill runner, one cut and go," Evans said. "He's a pretty good back to me."
In Illinois' 26-12 loss, Mendenhall collected 162 yards. He also nearly broke an 80-plus-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half. Cornerback Justin King caught him 10 yards short of the end zone.
"He's a big guy. He's tall and strong," Connor said of Mendenhall. "After the offseason, I was saying Illinois was going to be a team to watch. They gave us a run last year and they were on the road. Can't really say I'm surprised. We really have to play good."
