So it's Friday night in State College, the first weekend where all the students are back for the fall semester. Usually around this time, the attention shifts to Penn State football and the upcoming season opener. The anticipation of a new season intertwined with an expected victory from the student body.

But something's different this year. Beaver Stadium will sit quiet this last Saturday in August.

The football season doesn't start until Sept. 5., and women's soccer is the only athletic team to compete in State College this weekend.

So what is the sports fan in Happy Valley to do this weekend?

In case you haven't noticed, there's a Short Season-A Minor League team that plays across the street from Beaver Stadium. This squad could be playing its biggest series in franchise history this weekend against its arch rivals from down Interstate 80.

And if you feel the need to fill the athletic void this weekend, the State College Spikes could be worth your time.

The Spikes' series this weekend against the Williamsport Crosscutters could be the most important three games since the franchiser relocated to Lion Country. At the very least, it's the biggest series in more than a year.

Already, this group has done a lot to erase the stigma and storm clouds that hovered over last year's team.

Entering its doubleheader at Jamestown Thursday night, the Spikes are six wins shy of a franchise record and four games out of a playoff spot. State College has been chasing Staten Island (among others) for the last few weeks, trying to make the playoffs for the first time as the Spikes.

This year's version of the Spikes has not won pretty -- a .230 team batting average can attest to that -- but they've won. At a level in professional baseball where developing the talent is paramount to winning, the Spikes have managed to win. Now they find themselves in the middle of a playoff race that feels like a major league playoff race.

And State College has played like it recently, winning four out of its last five to keep pace in the chase.

Williamsport was the wildcard leader for a good chunk of the year before Staten Island overtook them recently. The Crosscutters sit only 1.5 games back entering play Thursday, so this weekend will be just as important for them to try and overtake the Yankees.

If nothing else, this weekend is a chance for Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies fans to see the possible future of their respective franchises while still reveling in the Turnpike rivalry.

Philly fans get to see 2008 first-round pick Anthony Hewitt, among others. Pirates fans...well you get to see the possible future of the Buccos that could be traded for the possible future Spikes.

But most importantly, they need you.

One of the liveliest crowds of the season saw the Spikes beat Williamsport on a sunny Independence Day afternoon to pull to .500 for the first time since 2007. The biggest crowd in franchise history watched the Spikes shutout one of the best teams in the league in Brooklyn.

When the fans are into the game, the Spikes are better.

Anyone in need of a sporting event this weekend might want to make the walk past Gate A of Beaver Stadium to Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. For at least one weekend, the last home games of the season, the Spikes and what could be a historic week in the team's history could be the talk of the campus.

At least until next Saturday.