One of the old Joe Paterno favorites came to the forefront during Paterno's weekly media teleconference Tuesday.

He doesn't read newspapers, but he knows what's in them. He knows enough to have an opinion about the people who write them.

"Whether you guys know it or not, you have a little bit of prejudice,'' Paterno said, "and it shows.''

Odd for Joe to be cranky after what was plainly his team's biggest win and best performance of the year Saturday, when Penn State romped at Michigan, 35-10.

The Nittany Lions are 7-1, 3-1 in the Big Ten, and have risen to No. 12 in the Bowl Championship Series rankings.

Indeed, Paterno seems reasonably happy with the football team.

"I think we're getting to be pretty good,'' he said. "I'm certainly not unhappy with where we are.

"We've probably done as well as we could have, considering some of the positions we were put in (due to) inexperience, the injuries to (Sean) Lee and (Navorro) Bowman and those kinds of things.''

Oddly, earlier this season, Paterno acknowledged that he does read a newspaper once in a while, under specific circumstances.

"I go to the bathroom,'' he said during his Sept. 15 teleconference. "I take the paper in there and I scan it. I look at it. The first thing I do is look at who died.

"Second thing I look at are headlines. If it says Paterno is the greatest, I read it. If it says I'm a bum, I don't even look at it.''

But in the run-up to the Michigan game, considerable attention was paid to Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson, Michigan's true-freshman quarterbacks. Paterno took that as a slight to his QB, senior Daryll Clark.

"I don't read the papers,'' Paterno said Tuesday.

"But... I come to these meetings and you guys start asking me about a lot of other people and I get the feeling as we went into Michigan that our guys had to show, Clark had to show that he could compare to a couple of freshmen.''

Clark was terrific at Michigan, throwing for 230 yards and four touchdowns on a rainy, windy day.

Paterno categorized Lebanon's Jared Odrick, actually something of a media favorite, as the Rodney Dangerfield of defensive tackles.

"He's a heck of a leader in practice,'' Paterno said. "I think he's a leader in the game. Makes plays when they have to be made.

"I don't think some of the kids have gotten quite the credit they should get.''

Paterno was just in one of those moods Tuesday. Even when he agreed, he disagreed. Somebody suggested that Bowman is among the most versatile linebackers Paterno's coached.

"You guys have short memories,'' he said. "(Paul) Posluszny wasn't bad. And Lee, until he got hurt, wasn't bad. I think Bowman's in that class.''

You're all wet. ... You're right. ... Ahhh, leave me alone ...

Fortunately, there was a football game to talk about, at Northwestern Saturday. The Nittany Lions are 14½-point favorites, but there's more than enough reason to take the Wildcats seriously.

First, Northwestern (5-3, 2-2) is a smart, resourceful team. The Wildcats trailed Indiana 28-3 Saturday at home before rallying to win, 29-28.

Penn State has had two punts blocked this season, one last week and the other returned for a crucial touchdown in the loss to Iowa Sept. 26.

Northwestern's rally Saturday began with, yes, a blocked punt.

Also, Saturday's game fits into a soft spot on Penn State's schedule, between Michigan and Ohio State.

You can probably guess how receptive Paterno was to the suggestion that Northwestern could be a "trap'' game.

"You bring up a scenario that I don't think's going to be relevant to what where we are,'' he said. "We've got to play Northwestern. I haven't even thought about the game after that one.

"And hopefully (the players) haven't. We're going to have to stay in focus on Northwestern. Nothing to do with what comes after it.''

Also, it'll be Penn State's second straight road trip, after just one road game total prior to last Saturday. Paterno gave the team off Sunday, which is normal, and Monday, which isn't.

"The one thing I'm worried about always, particularly we're at this stage where we haven't had an off week, is ... we'll end up with a tired football team,'' he said.

"Get them prepared but don't overwork them. And two games back to back have a bearing on that. On the road has a bearing on that.''

There was tangible sunny news. Backup tailback Stephfon Green is still nursing an ankle injury. His status for Saturday hasn't been decided.

But right tackle Nerraw McCormack is back from his ankle injury. He'll compete this week with Ako Poti, who played the past two weeks in McCormack's stead. The original starter at RT, Do'Ontae Pannell, is close to 100 percent (ankle) and is moving to left tackle, to back up Dennis Landolt.

Overall, though, Paterno said that, "I think we're as healthy as we've been all year.''

mgross@lnpnews.com