STATE COLLEGE -- The standards for gridiron success are quite different for Indiana and No. 19 Penn State.

Seemingly a perennial Big Ten afterthought, the Hoosiers (4-6, 1-5) would love to finish the regular season with two wins to qualify for a bowl game.

The only problem is, the first of those two contests comes Saturday against the Nittany Lions (8-2, 4-2), a team eager to get over its disappointing loss last week to Ohio State and keep alive its outside chances for a Bowl Championship Series spot.

Oh, and Indiana has never beaten coach Joe Paterno's crew in 12 tries.

Maybe that's why Hoosiers coach Bill Lynch tried to downplay talk this week that Saturday was a must-win game.

"Honestly, we are not talking about that," Lynch said. "Sometimes when you talk about a game being a 'must-win' and everything you work for goes out the window, then you get away from what we have done pretty well."

In Happy Valley, many hardcore fans are upset enough with the losses to Iowa and the Buckeyes. They were the marquee home games this year on a Penn State schedule otherwise loaded with lopsided victories over teams like Akron, Illinois, Minnesota and FCS school Eastern Illinois.

The way the Nittany Lions lost last week €" dominated on offense and special teams €" was especially shocking for a squad that had hoped to repeat as Big Ten champions.

"What we're trying to do is we still have two games left and we want to win," left tackle Dennis Landolt said. "Make sure everyone's focused ... make sure the loss doesn't stick."

Still, nothing less than a perennial national championship contender satisfies the most ardent backers of one of college football's brand-name programs. More brusque then usual Tuesday during his weekly musings with the media, Paterno tried to put perspective on the season.

"You go out and practice, try to get better. You know, 8-2 isn't a disaster," the Hall of Famer said when asked how he would guard against a potential letdown by his players.

"But, I'm not going to get into anything about what expectations people have, that 'so-and-so thought we were going to do this or that,'" he added. "I think that's up to you guys. You guys can speculate all you want."

No speculation is needed about Penn State's subpar special teams. After getting torched again last week on both sides of the punting game, Paterno said he would look into making some personnel changes on the struggling unit.

At least Indiana fits the mold of most of the other foes in Penn State's wins €" less-talented than the Nittany Lions, and probably unable to keep up with the offensive weapons at Paterno's disposal.

A Penn State offensive line that will likely be without left guard Johnnie Troutman (left calf) will have to deal with the Hoosiers' quality defensive ends in Jammie Kirlew and Greg Middleton.

Paterno also said teams have been trying more to take away the passing game and challenge Penn State to run €" a reversal of strategies that opposing defenses employed earlier this year.

"We need to tighten up and make sure everyone knows what we're doing on every play ... so that there are no mental mistakes," quarterback Daryll Clark said.

Still, this should likely be a game in which Clark and the spread offense regains their rhythm. He would like to finish his last home game at Beaver Stadium on a high note against an Indiana defense yielding a Big Ten-worst 410-plus yards a game.

What the Hoosiers have done well this season is hang tough in Big Ten road games.

The flip side is that they've made a habit of falling apart late. The losses include:

€"at Michigan, 36-33, after giving up a TD pass from QB Tate Forcier with 2:29 left.

€"at Northwestern, 29-28, after blowing a 25-point first-half lead.

€"at Iowa, 42-24, after the Hawkeyes scored four fourth-quarter touchdowns.

Last season against Penn State, Indiana was down 10-7 at the half at Beaver Stadium before the Nittany Lions pulled away with 24 unanswered points after halftime.

Lynch hopes his team builds on the early game success instead of the late-game slip-ups at tough road venues.

"I think our players draw on those experiences going into that type of environment," Lynch said. "Hopefully we go into the game with some confidence that we can play in this environment." ۩