Jordan Norwood streaked down the sideline stride-for-stride with Oregon State defensive back Brandon Hughes. But as the two neared the endzone, Norwood suddenly stopped.

The ball was designed to be under thrown and quarterback Daryll Clark put it on Norwood's back shoulder. And as Norwood contorted his body and turned to make the catch, Hughes went flying by, all he could do was watch.

Norwood leapt, met the ball and landed in the end zone.

It was a route the two ran together countless times during the summer evenings, but this time there was a little hitch. Clark said the ball was sticky, making him underthrow the ball more than he had planned.

But once again, Norwood was there to make the difficult catch, something he's become accustomed to during his days as a Nittany Lion.

Taking a quick glance 22-yards up field, Norwood saw Clark pointing at him, thanking him once again for making the first-year quarterback look good.

"Jordan did a great job today," Clark said. "Throw it to the guy, he can go up and get it. You know he's going to make the catch. He's very dependable."

It was a record day for Norwood. He set career highs in catches (8) and yards (116).

He also moved past former All-American and nine-year NFL veteran O.J. McDuffie on the school's all-time receptions list. Norwood has 129 catches during his four-year career and is only 28 away from record-holder Bobby Engram.

But ask Norwood about his career day and he's quick to pass it off as just being in the right scheme.

When the Lions spread the field, Norwood was in the slot and matched up one-on-one with slower strong safeties. Norwood abused the coverage all day and was at times uncoverable.

"You see this type of scheme that the inside receiver is the guy that's going to end up getting a lot of balls his direction," offensive coordinator Galen Hall said. "He's played very well. Jordan has excellent quickness, hand eye coordination, he's very good catching the ball in traffic."

Norwood is a quarterback's best friend. Known for his great hands, Norwood acts almost as Clark's safety valve. Three of Norwood's eight grabs came on third down, moving the chains and keeping drives alive.

Being a slot receiver, he routinely takes punishing blows but just gets up and jogs back to the huddle.

He said taking hits is just part of his job.

It's that fearless determination that makes Norwood the prototypical team player. He never showboats and will always be sure to mention his teammates before himself.

Even after the best statistical game of his career Norwood wanted to talk about the entire offense rather than his records.

"I saw [McDuffie] on the field and he said, 'Congratulations.' I'm assuming that's what he said congratulations for," Norwood said. "He was a great football player, and he was a good person to really look up to. That means a lot to me. And I appreciate that he was able to say congrats to me."