HARRISBURG — Two Penn State University administrators charged with failing to report sex abuse allegations against Jerry Sandusky and later lying about it will go on trial Jan. 7, a Dauphin County judge ruled Friday.

The ruling came a day after lawyers for suspended university Athletic Director Tim Curley and former vice president Gary Schultz argued to have the perjury and reporting charges against their clients thrown out.

While Judge Todd Hoover has not yet made a ruling on those defense requests, Friday’s decision to set a trial date sets an end-point to the case that Curley’s attorney described Thursday as resting on “shifting sands.”

Since the arrest of both administrators late last year, an ongoing attorney general’s investigation has uncovered more evidence against Curley and Schultz including a set of e-mails that seem to incriminate both men in a decision not to notify authorities of a 2001 allegation that Sandusky molested a boy in a locker room shower.

The continuous addition of new evidence has made it difficult to form a coherent defense, Curley’s lawyer, Caroline Roberto, argued in Thursday’s hearing.

“We are on shifting sands,” she said. “We need an end point. We need determination. We need to know what we are defending against so we can move forward to trial.”