LOS ANGELES - Penn State captain Anthony Scirrotto wouldn't go there. Neither would his teammate Deon Butler. No, their coach said it for them.
"I think we are underdogs," Joe Paterno said Wednesday. "That doesn't mean that's the end of the world. You still got to play the game."
That game would be the Rose Bowl, which kicks off at 5 p.m. ET, 2 p.m. PT in Pasadena, Calif.
A road trip more than 2,500 miles in the making for the Nittany Lions. For their opponents, Southern California, the Rose Bowl Stadium is just a quick bus ride down L.A.'s highway 110 and it's a stadium the Trojans are used to.
USC played the same game there the past three seasons. The Trojans have won the last two while Penn State hasn't appeared in a Rose Bowl since winning it in 1995.
Like the journeys taken to reach the "Grandaddy of them all," the atmosphere surrounding both teams all week couldn't have been more different.
The Trojans had the luxury of sleeping in their own beds, practicing at their own facilities while Penn State operated on the fields of The Home Depot Center.
USC players joked around, greeted fans and family all week at their practices. During the Trojan's media day on Tuesday, a handful of players led a chorus of "Happy New Year's" cheers as a large digital clock counted off ten seconds, signaling the end of media availability. As some Trojans chanted, others threw water bottles.
Penn State players were quieter at practice and took the fields earlier each day. At the Lions' media day just before USC's, Penn State players sat in groups around tables, sipping water and answer questions about playing so far away from home in hostile territory.
At a luncheon just outside of the stadium on Wednesday, USC's captains showed up looking comfortable in sweatpants and polo shirts. Penn State players wore suits and ties.
To Butler and the rest of the Nittany Lion seniors, Thursday's matchup won't be much different from the 2005 Orange Bowl or last season's Alamo Bowl. Those years, the Lions played Florida State and Texas A&M in Florida and Texas, respectively.
"It gives you experience just going into another person's state and basically feeling like an away team when most of the stadium is on their side," Butler said. "We've played some tough road teams in the Big Ten on the road this year. I think we'll be ready for it."
Other Nittany Lions said they preferred the underdog tag applied to them by oddsmakers and media members.
Freshman running back Stephfon Green grinned when asked if he thought he and his teammates would be waging an uphill battle against the Trojans.
"That's fine. Every underdog is dangerous, you know?" Green said. "On any given day anybody can beat anybody, so me being me, I've been an underdog my whole life. I like the fact that we're the underdogs."
Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark put it more simply:
"Not a lot of people are giving us a chance in this game, but I think we can handle the underdog thing," Clark said. "We are very confident that we can beat this team."
