It was a Sunday night 64 years ago. A band of college students crept through the woods north of the Nittany Lion shrine. Their mission, according to Penn State lore, was to humiliate Penn State students.

The next morning, as students around campus awoke for class, something was different. The normally beige shrine was black. The prank had been pulled, but nobody knew who did it.

But Lion students had their suspicions, especially considering Penn State was set to play Syracuse the following Saturday.

While the culprits were never caught, Penn State alumni swear Syracuse students were responsible, according to Penn State historian Lou Prato.

It was the opening salvo in what became one of the nation's most intense rivalries, Prato said.

While he said current students and players could never imagine the intensity of the rivalry, alumni from both schools will have a chance to relive their college days tomorrow. That's when the No. 17 Lions (2-0) and the Orange (0-2) meet for the first time since 1990 at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Syracuse's Carrier Dome.

Syracuse comes into the game reeling after losses to Northwestern and Akron. Penn State, meanwhile, has won its two games by an average of 43.5 points.

The Lions rank third in the nation in scoring offense (55.5 ppg) while Syracuse is No. 101 in points allowed (36.0 ppg).

But just because the two squads are statistical opposites doesn't mean Penn State coach Joe Paterno is taking the Orange lightly.

"Akron's a pretty good football team. Akron gave Wisconsin a good football game out at Madison," Paterno said. "Syracuse had to play Northwestern at Northwestern, so, you know, it's early. We'll see what happens."

But tomorrow is about the renewal of the showdown of the one-time eastern powers.

"In the Pitt rivalry, aside from Joe Paterno and [Pitt's] Jackie Sherrill, the coaches and players respected each other," Prato said. "But starting with [Syracuse's coach] Ben Schwartzwalder and [then-Penn State coach] Rip Engle, those two old war horses hated each other."

In 1953, the intensity and bitterness spilled onto the field. That year featured arguably two of

the best players in college football history: Penn State's Lenny Moore and Syracuse's Jim Brown.

With Syracuse driving late, Moore intercepted a pass that preserved the win for the Lions. He was pushed out of bounds deep in Syracuse territory and, as Moore recalls in his autobiography, "Someone on the sideline jumped on me with a cheap shot. Suddenly, both benches cleared and fans were on the field. Fists were flying."

Following that fight, even the coaches wanted to get in on the act.

The hatred between Engle and Schwartzwalder was so intense Paterno said he remembers a conversation he had with the Syracuse coach while Paterno was a Penn State assistant.

"Schwartzwalder said one time, 'I wish we didn't play this game. All I want to do is get that Engle out there in the middle of the field and I'll knock the heck out of him,' " Paterno said.

The rivalry stayed strong until 1973 when Schwartzwalder resigned and Syracuse's program began to fall.

After the Lions won 19 of the final 21 games, the series ended in 1990.

Lion safety Mark Rubin, an Amherst, N.Y., native said he cheered for the Orange as a kid. He said his family taught him about the rivalry and he's glad he finally has a chance to play in the Carrier Dome, a place he visited a lot during his high school years.

"I always was a big Syracuse fan growing up," he said. "I'm definitely a hometown guy. Before it ended, it was definitely a big rivalry. It's definitely exciting to start it back up."