Call it a trap game, or a sandwich game. Penn State coach Joe Paterno has one name for Saturday's contest at Northwestern.

The next game.

"We're going to have to stay in focus on Northwestern," Paterno said yesterday at his weekly teleconference. "No question they're getting better. Maybe, hopefully, we can beat them. [It has] nothing to do with what comes after that."

"What comes after that" is the 12th-ranked Nittany Lions' critical Nov. 6 duel against No. 17 Ohio State at Beaver Stadium, a Big Ten elimination game for all practical purposes.

While the Buckeyes loom ahead, the Lions still may be savoring their 35-10 victory at Michigan last weekend, a win that broke a five-game losing streak at the Big House and convinced some doubters - and maybe even a few players - that this club is "pretty good," as Paterno likes to say.

Penn State (7-1, 3-1 Big Ten) must be careful not to overlook the Wildcats (5-3, 2-2), who trailed Indiana 28-3 midway through the second quarter Saturday but pulled out a 29-28 win on Stefan Demos' 19-yard field goal with 21 seconds to play.

Tight end Andrew Quarless said the situation reminds him of last season, when the Nittany Lions picked up road wins at Purdue, Wisconsin and sixth-ranked Ohio State to rise to No. 3 in the polls, then lost at unranked Iowa.

"We're not going to take it like" a trap game, Quarless said. "We went into Iowa lackadaisical and we lost to them. We can't overlook anyone, and we're not going to. They'll come out and play tough against us."

On their most recent trip to Evanston, in 2005, the Nittany Lions needed a 20-yard pass from Michael Robinson to tight end Isaac Smolko on fourth and 15 from their own 15 to keep their final drive going. Robinson then threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Williams with 51 seconds remaining to give Penn State a 34-29 victory.

Quarless, then a senior at Uniondale (N.Y.) High School who had committed to Penn State, watched that game on television.

"I could see the plays they had to execute to come on late and win the game," he said. "It looked like they went into the game lackadaisical and they overlooked Northwestern and [the Wildcats] gave them a run for their money. We can't overlook anybody."

The Wildcats run a fast-paced offense. Directed by senior Mike Kafka, who amassed 377 total yards against Indiana, Northwestern averages 77 plays per game, 10 more than Penn State.

"They play very fast," Paterno said. "They're very, very positive about what they do. Kafka is the guy that runs the show. So they're a real challenge. They've been great late in the game, because they wear you down with their ability to execute when they go fast."

Paterno said fourth-year coach Pat Fitzgerald is showing the same qualities as a coach that he did as a Wildcat linebacker who was inducted last year into the College Football Hall of Fame.

"He's a heck of a competitor," he said. "His kids are playing with enthusiasm. They're tough and they make plays when they have to. They're big-play opportunists."

That should be enough to keep the Lions' attention this week. Or as Paterno says, "I haven't even thought about the game after this one."

Nittany Notes. Paterno said the Lions "are as healthy as we've been all year" except for backup tailback Stephfon Green, who continues to nurse an ankle injury. ... The Lions' game against Ohio State has been established as a 3:30 p.m. starting time, to be televised by 6ABC. ... For the second year in a row, senior quarterback Daryll Clark has been selected as one of 15 semifinalists for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award. Fan voting (www.VoteOBrien.org) accounts for 5 percent of the vote that will determine the three finalists for the award.

Contact staff writer Joe Juliano at 215-854-4494 or jjuliano@phillynews.com.

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