Michael Donlon sat down with Penn State Director of Athletics Tim Curley and pleaded his case.

Donlon, a Class of 1981 graduate, wanted to put a Jason Yeisley advertisement on the big screens at the Penn State-Ohio State football game.

Donlon's goal was to get the word out about Yeisley being a finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award -- an award that is presented to a senior based on work in the classroom, on the field and in the community.

After Donlon told Curley how important the award would mean to Penn State, Curley agreed.

Not only did Curley manage to put Yeisley on Beaver Stadium's big screen but also advertised Yeisley's finalist status in the Bryce Jordan Center for the men's basketball exhibition against Slippery Rock last Friday.

With one-third of the final vote coming from fan voting, Donlon and his son Eric Donlon have made it a mission to do all they can to increase Yeisley's votes. Eric Donlon attended the Penn State men's soccer summer camp, and both father and son have met the senior forward at soccer games this season.

It's part Penn State pride but also an appreciation for Penn State soccer that has the two sending constant e-mails in support of Yeisley.

Michael Donlon and Eric Donlon have e-mailed every PA Alumni chapter leader, all men's and women's soccer coaches at every branch campus, all food service and housing directors at all branch campuses, 10 Pennsylvania premier soccer clubs and Salisbury high school, where Yeisley attended in Allentown.

They sent a downloaded photograph from the Lowe's Senior CLASS Web site to the food service and housing directors in the hopes the directors would print and post the image around campus.

And that only includes some of the people they notified.

Donlon said the response has been positive with the coaches they e-mailed and his family members. He anticipates the word has gotten out to thousands of people through the e-mails.

"I said, 'You know, this would be kind of fun to do,' " Donlon said. "I also thought it would be a good lesson to my son -- see if one person or two people can make a difference if they get energized enough."

So far, his efforts have paid off.

Yeisley has gone from third to second place and cut down on South Florida's Zak Boggs' first place lead -- from four percent to less than two percent.

Donlon said Yeisley only had 12 percent of the vote two weeks before he and his son stepped in. Now, Yeisley hangs around 23 percent.

"Realistically, by the time we got involved, he was so far back," Michael Donlon said. "I thought, 'Well if he got even close to first place that would be pretty impressive.' "

Yeisley's supporters have not only been voting on the Lowe's Senior CLASS Web site once a day but also text messaging the designated text to the designated number, which is provided on the Web site.

Penn State coach Barry Gorman and his players have also joined the Donlons. Sophomore forward Corey Hertzog said he has told family and friends and even random people he sees using their computers. Assistant coach Ryan Defibaugh has e-mailed alumni and friends as has junior midfielder Drew Cost.

"I go on there and vote every day," Hertzog said. "Sometimes if I'm on another computer, I'll vote twice a day."

The team and voters still have a way to go for Yeisley to take first place. Fan voting ends this upcoming Friday, Nov. 13. Yeisley said he appreciates what everyone is doing, but he doesn't pay attention to the voting.

"All I'm focused on is having a good season, having a good year and bringing back some sort of trophy for us," Yeisley said.

For the Donlons, Yeisley's possible Lowe's Senior CLASS trophy would work just fine.