On video, Joe Paterno watches football players, not reputations, which would explain his constant reference of opposing players by their numbers and not their names.

So when the Penn State coach mentions Michigan State's star linebacker by his last name ("Jones") and not by his number ("53") -- like he did on Tuesday -- the Nittany Lions know they will have their hands full against the Spartans' Greg Jones on Saturday.

"I think Jones is a really good football player. In fact, we talked about him this morning. What has he got, a hundred-some tackles, a couple other things? We were talking about him," Paterno said before adding the proverbial, "He's a heck of a football player."

The exact tally on Jones is a Big Ten-leading 126 tackles, good for second in the nation. He is fifth in the conference with 7.5 sacks as well.

Make no mistake about it, Linebacker U may very well be facing the best linebacker in the nation Saturday, and the Lions are well aware of it.

"He's a really good linebacker in all aspects," Penn State linebacker Sean Lee said.

"He's a good athlete, he gets to the ball, he makes a ton of plays over the field."

The 6-foot-1, 228-pounder from Cincinnati is athletic enough to chase down quarterbacks on blitzes and drop back into pass coverage.

Jones displayed that versatility last season, finishing with 127 tackles, the third-most in the Big Ten. Expectations mounted over the spring and summer, as Jones was voted the conference's preseason defensive player of the year.

He has not disappointed.

"I'm not surprised he's lived up to expectations," Spartan Radio Network color analyst Jim Miller said. "He's got tremendous determination, tremendous football instincts, has a lot of God-given ability that he's maximized through a lot of hard work. The defense is predicated around him making plays, and he really flies to the football and has been a good leader among his teammates."

Leading is something the mild-mannered Jones does by example.

The junior captain would rather defer the boisterous pep talks to the Spartan seniors.

"Even though I am a junior and I may be a captain, I still feel like seniors lead, regardless," Jones said. "They've been here and they know what it takes to win. I plan to lead when it's my time to step up, but other than that, I won't do anything that's uncalled for."

His time to step up in East Lansing, Mich., may never come.

Jones could declare for the NFL Draft at the end of the season.

Miller, a former NFL quarterback, said Jones would be a perfect fit for a defense running the Tampa-2 formation because of his ability to play the whole field.

"I haven't really given it a whole lot of thought," Jones said. "I'm just getting ready for this game. It's probably the biggest game of the year and it's the last one.

"I'll think about [the NFL] after the bowl game. It's the last thing I'm thinking about right now."