Penn State long shot to make Rose Bowl

The Nittany Lions would need a lot of help.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- After every practice, the Penn State Nittany Lions gather together with hands raised and yell in unison, "Rose Bowl!"
Seemed like a far-fetched goal when they first started drilling in August.
But not as much anymore, although No. 5 Penn State still would need a lot of help to get a spot in the national title game at the Rose Bowl.
The Nittany Lions (9-1, 6-1 Big Ten) are fourth in the Bowl Championship Series standings behind Southern California and Texas, which are both undefeated and are a solid 1-2. Miami, at 8-1, is third. The top two teams in the final BCS standings go to the Rose Bowl.
If Penn State defeats Michigan State Saturday, the Lions would need at the very least either USC or Texas to lose -- and it wouldn't hurt if Miami took another loss, too -- to even think about getting into one of the top two spots.
It's a long-shot scenario at best.
Paterno isn't a BCS fan
That wasn't lost on Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who has never been a BCS fan in the first place. He told reporters earlier this week that he wasn't paying attention to the BCS chase.
"We have absolutely no control over anything but our business," he said.
For Penn State, that means beating the Spartans (5-5, 2-5) in East Lansing Mich. Saturday in the regular season finale for both teams.
Paterno abides by the "one-game-at-a-time" philosophy, and his players have followed that lead all season. They don't appear to be veering from that now, even with bowl stakes on the line.
"A little bit, but I'm not consumed with it," guard Charles Rush said when asked if he was mindful of the BCS chatter.
"I know we're No. 4 in the BCS," he said. "If we lose this game, we'll drop to whatever, so we know we have to go out there and take care of what we can take care of and that's playing the game this weekend and winning."
Rags-to-richest story
Still, Penn State's mere appearance in the BCS standings is another testament of their rags-to-riches story this year. Coming off two straight losing seasons, the Lions came to preseason practice with what was expected to be a good defense. But there were question marks on an offense that had to rely heavily on a fleet of fast but inexperienced freshman wide-outs and fifth-year senior Michael Robinson, who is in his first year as a full-time quarterback.
AP media poll voters were skeptical. Penn State didn't enter the Top 25 until early October.
Now, the high-scoring offense is just as much a threat as the stingy, senior-laden defense.
"Going into the season, I didn't think they'd be as good as they are. I don't think anybody expected it," said Spartans defensive back Eric Smith, who has a team-leading 94 tackles and two interceptions.
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