Bill Corl will be the first to make the left-hand turn onto Curtin Road when he leads Joe Paterno's football motorcade to Beaver Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

When he does, his heart will start pounding the same way it has the past two years on Saturday's like these. Through the windshield of the big blue bus Corl will be the first to see the throngs of Penn State fans, old and young, lining both sides of the players' entrance to Beaver Stadium. Their cheers will grow louder as the bus gets closer, interrupting the focused silence of Paterno and his players aboard.

Corl will stop the bus and turn to Paterno, who is seated behind him. Before the coach gets off the bus, Corl is the first to wish him good luck.

"Coach Paterno gets off and I turn around in my seat and I start wishing every player individually good luck," Corl said in a Thursday telephone interview. " 'Have a good day guys. Good luck with this game' and they all acknowledge me, they thank me."

Could Saturday be the last time Corl wishes Paterno luck?

The 81-year-old coach does not have a contract in place that would retain his services next year and a hip problem has forced him to coach most of his team's games from the press box this season.

Corl is aware of the speculation Saturday could be Paterno's last home game, but hasn't thought of it much.

"I don't know. I just don't know," Corl said. "There are a lot of rumors out there and everything. Everybody has an opinion and the only opinion I have is he's had one of the greatest programs of college football of any coach in the nation."

As winds whipped and temperatures dropped into the 30s Thursday afternoon, students in the tent city that bears Paterno's name weren't concerned the Michigan State game could be the final time Paterno coaches at Beaver Stadium.

Just more than a hundred feet from a bronze Paterno statue, bundled-up students all came to the same conclusion Paterno will likely leave on his own terms.

"I think they'll keep him no matter what until he wants to leave," Tom Sheehan (sophomore-engineering) said.

Around the corner from Paternoville, Penn State All Sports Museum employees agreed Paterno was still a main attraction for Nittany Lion fans and opposing fans alike.

Museum employees Christen Brown and Jim Voigt said visitors still flock to the museum to see artifacts from Paterno's career. Voigt said fans still come to Penn State games to see Paterno.

"He's a big draw," Voigt said. "He's the leader of the whole Penn State football nation."

Outside of Beaver Stadium alone, monuments for Paterno are numerous.

The entrance to the museum has 607 bricks, inscribed with names of donors to the facility. The bricks are dedicated to the success Paterno has had in his 43 seasons at Penn State.

Along the wall behind the Paterno statue, 42 plaques commemorate each season of Lion football under Paterno. There is room for two more.

Although Lion fans won't know whether Paterno will return or not until the Penn State administration meets to discuss a new contract after the season, it will be Penn State's final home game for the Nittany Lion mascot.

Senior James Sheep doesn't think Saturday's contest will be Paterno's last at Beaver Stadium. The mascot said if it is Paterno's final game, however, it would be a good way to end a career with a win and a trip to the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

"For Coach Paterno, this is the potential last game for him and that means a lot to the Penn State fans, to the team and everything," Sheep said. "But even me as a senior and the Nittany Lion mascot, my career as the mascot is over and what better way to end than to end with JoePa?"