STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Pat Fitzgerald is young enough to be Joe Paterno's grandson. On Saturday, they'll be foes. Fitzgerald, the youngest head coach in major college football, will face Division I-A's oldest coach in the 79-year-old Paterno when Northwestern visits Penn State (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) at Beaver Stadium.

An anxious Fitzgerald said it would be a "humbling experience" to coach his first Big Ten game against "a living legend. The reason why college football is what it is today is because of Joe Paterno."

Fitzgerald was born Dec. 2, 1974 - four days after Paterno coached Penn State to a 31-10 win over in-state rival Pitt. Paterno was already eight years into his 41-year coaching career when Fitzgerald was in diapers.

The dean of college football coaches offered the Wildcats' rookie head coach some friendly advice when they were seated next to each other at a preseason Big Ten luncheon two months ago.

"They hustle, play with emotion, and I think they will continue to play that way," Paterno said this week about the Wildcats (2-2). "I think Pat will probably do a great job at Northwestern."

Joe Pa still has a spring in his step. He proved as much when he jogged off the field in the second quarter during last week's loss against top-ranked Ohio State, startling fans. Paterno said lingering flu symptoms forced him to leave the sidelines during a game for the first time in his career.

While he appears to be over that stomach bug, another malady popped up Tuesday when Paterno was blind-sided and knocked off his feet - his glasses flying - by two Nittany Lions going for a pass during practice. Paterno had been talking to another player at the time.

"For a moment, you thought the worst," said football communications director Guido D'Elia, who witnessed the play. "He rolled over, brushed himself off. He came out OK. He's just sore."

Expect the Nittany Lion defense to be just as feisty against the Wildcats and eager to build on last week's performance against top-ranked Ohio State. Though Penn State lost that game, the Lions limited the Buckeyes to a season-low 253 yards and held Heisman hopefuls Troy Smith and Ted Ginn Jr. in check.

Northwestern's offense isn't quite as dangerous. Redshirt freshman Mike Kafka has started the season's first four games, though he suffered a hamstring injury in last week's loss at Nevada, when he threw three interceptions.

Another redshirt freshman, Andrew Brewer, could step in if Kafka cannot go; Fitzgerald said who starts would be a game-time decision.

At least Fitzgerald will still have running back Tyrell Sutton (347 yards, two TDs) to lean on. Sutton last season ran for 112 yards and two scores against Penn State.

Linebacker Dan Connor, who leads the Lions with 38 tackles, got a reminder of Sutton after watching Northwestern on TV in his hotel room before the Ohio State game. Connor is eager to stop the run.

"As a linebacker, dropping back in pass is all right, but you want the contact to make big hits, make the tackles," Connor said.

Penn State has played well against the run so far, holding opponents to 82 rushing yards a game. The secondary, which features three sophomores, is young, but played well against Ohio State.

"There's holes out there when you play zone coverage," Fitzgerald said about Penn State's defense. "You need to make sure that you make the right shots, make the right decisions. We're going to have to go out there and establish the run."

The Lions aren't too shabby themselves running the ball behind hard-nosed tailback Tony Hunt. But Penn State has been inconsistent as junior quarterback Anthony Morelli learns the system and the offense tries to correct errors near the goal line.

"I think we have been pretty good as far as being productive. We just haven't been able to put the ball in the end zone because of mistakes we have made," Paterno said. "We have to eliminate the mistakes."