It will embark on a conference title defense in less than two months, but what is perhaps the Penn State football team's toughest day of the year has already arrived.
That's because more than 90 players will engage in their most difficult workouts of the season at 2 p.m. today when they take part in the seventh annual Lift for Life at Holuba Hall.
"[It's] definitely the most challenging thing we do all year," said Penn State running back Ryan Gmerek.
Gmerek is also media relations coordinator for Penn State Football Uplifting Athletes, a charitable organization that seeks to raise money and awareness to combat kidney cancer.
The players are broken into teams of four and participate in 11 events including the bench press, leg press and leg curling.
Last year, the Nittany Lions raised more than $70,000 for the Kidney Cancer Association.
The goal this year, as always, is to improve upon the previous year's total.
More important, however, is increasing awareness about the deadly disease in partnership with Lift for Life.
Uplifting Athletes is working to expand, and it continues to sprout new chapters at different colleges.
The group had a chapter established at Colgate University last year.
This year, Boston College and Ohio State each adopted a chapter of the nonprofit group.
"It's very encouraging," said former Penn State wide receiver Scott Shirley, who is now the executive director of Uplifting Athletes.
"I think it's a testament to the role of a student athlete and the experience of a college football player."
Shirley started the event in 2003, a year after his father, Don, was diagnosed with kidney cancer.
Former Lion offensive lineman Damone Jones, Shirley's roommate at Penn State, suggested lending the Penn State name the effort to combat kidney cancer.
"That was really kind of the idea behind how it got started," Shirley said. "One of the things that I think that makes Uplifting Athletes unique is that college football players are in a position of social influence."
Penn State players will be exerting that influence today for fans to see.
Whether doing pull-ups or carrying 100-pound plates across the gridiron, Penn State players can be sure the jawing they hear from their teammates on opposing teams will only up the ante for their cause.
"When you get a group of guys like players on a football team, everything you do is pretty much competitive," Gmerek said. "So if you're gonna put us in a competition, everyone's gonna fight to win it every year.
"Everyone just gets really excited for this. They treat it like any other competition -- like a game -- so it definitely gets really competitive."
