Here we go again.

Back to Penn State's non-conference schedule. Round two.

This, the 11th week of the season, might have been the one that Joe Paterno had pegged as a possible bye week. The 80-year-old coach is a big proponent of a mid-season rest for his players.

"I haven't been happy with the 12-game schedule," Paterno said this week. "And obviously I'm not happy that we don't have an open week. ... I don't like playing Temple in the 11th game of the year, away from home."

But Penn State doesn't get a bye week. It gets round two of its non-conference schedule, which will begin and end tomorrow afternoon in Philadelphia, when the Nittany Lions take on the Owls, a team that has won just four games during the past three seasons.

But don't be so quick to talk down on this season's Owls. They deserve some respect -- or at least no less respect than Penn State's other non-conference opponents this year: Florida International, Notre Dame and Buffalo.

This season, the Owls had the odds stacked against them from the very beginning, starting out 0-5. Not becoming too deterred at the slow start, they rallied to win their next three games -- the school's first three-game win streak since 1990.

Florida International and Notre Dame also lost their first five games this season. Guess where those two teams are right now? The Panthers are still searching for their first win. The Irish are 1-8.

When Paterno heard that one of his former players, Al Golden, was thinking of becoming Temple's head coach before the 2006 season began, Paterno warned against the idea. Golden would have to assume control of a team that went winless the year before.

But Golden didn't worry about all that. Now in his second year, his team is showing signs that it may become more competitive than it has of late.

Vaughn Charlton, Temple's backup quarterback, didn't have quite the same options that Golden had. The sophomore will have to make only his second start of the season tomorrow against a Penn State defense that's leading the nation in sacks.

Charlton is filling in for Temple's opening-day starter, junior Adam DiMichele, who was injured in Temple's Week 8 win over Miami (Ohio). But when I talked to Charlton this week, he didn't want to dwell on his inexperience, quickly pointing out that he had seen substantial playing time in 2006.

Temple fans certainly weren't deterred by the futility of past years, by the 0-5 start or by the new starting quarterback.

They've spent the week rallying on campus and wearing buttons that say, "We aren't Penn State."

Today, they plan to hold a pep rally on Broad Street at City Hall.

For those fans, this is one of the biggest home games in recent school history.

Saturday's game starts at noon. Lincoln Financial Field is about eight miles from Temple's main campus and student residential areas. To get to that game on time, many students will line up to catch a 9:30 a.m. shuttle.

Gotta respect that.