STATE COLLEGE - Here's a pop quiz: between Minnesota and Penn State, which team has:

An offense built around a power-running attack?

Won a bowl game the previous three seasons?

Started 4-0 for the fourth straight year?

The answer is No. 18 Minnesota (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten), though not too long ago, Penn State (4-0, 1-0) would have been a no-brainer. On Saturday, the Golden Gophers visit Happy Valley in what figures to be the stiffest test yet for a Nittany Lions squad gaining confidence after two straight losing seasons.

Beat Minnesota and Penn State might return to the Top 25 for the first time since finishing the 2002 season at No. 16.

"Right now, we are a decent football team, but we are a project yet," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "We are on the verge of, hopefully, getting a little bit better this week and a little bit better the following week."

Minnesota has something to prove, too: that its 42-35 double-overtime win over Purdue last week wasn't a fluke after starting the year with a soft nonconference slate including Tulsa, Colorado State and Florida Atlantic.

"Now everyone's on board with Gopher football after we won a big game, but I remember just two weeks ago everyone bad-mouthing us, saying that we're not really that good," Gophers quarterback Bryan Cupito said.

Cupito three threw interceptions early in the Purdue game but bounced back by leading Minnesota on the game-tying drive late in regulation and throwing a TD pass in overtime.

Should Minnesota lose this week, "a lot of people will probably say we're not that good," Cupito said. "So we've got to keep winning and getting better each week."

The Gophers will likely need another big game on Saturday from Heisman Trophy hopeful Laurence Maroney, who leads Division I-A with 174.5 rushing yards per game. Last week, Maroney torched a Purdue defense that had arrived in Minneapolis as the nation's best run-stopping unit for 217 yards on 46 carries.

Now Maroney must face a senior-laden Penn State defense that gives up 85 yards a game, the 16th-best run defense in the nation. Maroney has an athletic group of linemen on his side that opens up running lanes with a zone blocking scheme.

"Other teams are starting to recognize Minnesota as a powerhouse nowadays," Maroney said. "We feel like we've got to go out there and prove something every game to people who don't feel like we have a good team."

Penn State's early season revival is in large part due to a cast of freshmen receivers that has injected speed and big-play potential into the offense. Paterno in the past often didn't give so many freshmen so much playing time, at least early in a season.

Deon Butler leads the team with four touchdown catches and 242 receiving yards. Star recruit Derrick Williams is a solid blocker whose first career TD came with 51 seconds left in the Northwestern game to lift Penn State to a 34-29 win.

Another freshman, Justin King, plays both cornerback and receiver and has two long scores, while Jordan Norwood caught five balls for 83 yards against the Wildcats.

Last year, Minnesota beat Penn State, 16-7, after shutting down the Nittany Lions' ground game. A late Penn State drive was thwarted after then-quarterback Zack Mills threw an interception into the Minnesota end zone.

"They're a little bit different on offense right now," Minnesota coach Glen Mason said. "They have great wide receivers, I can tell you that."

A cautious Paterno said his team is still learning on the fly. There are four games worth of tape of the revamped offense now available to Penn State's opponents. With 13 turnovers, Penn State is tied with Louisiana-Monroe for the most giveaways in Division I-A. And it might get tougher for receivers to get open if opposing defensive backs start playing more physical.

"If we had this group of kids last year, we would have won some games," Paterno said. "I think you always learn."