STATE COLLEGE — Penn State's recruiting class of 2005 is hailed in Happy Valley as a group of players who helped bring the storied program back from football purgatory to national relevance.

So don't be surprised if the biggest cheers Saturday for the No. 19 Nittany Lions' final home game of the season are reserved for linebacker Sean Lee.

The last player on the roster who played in the Orange Bowl that capped the school's magical '05 ride will run out of the Beaver Stadium tunnel for the last time before the Nittany Lions (8-2, 4-2 Big Ten) host Indiana (4-6, 1-5).

"It's definitely going to be emotional. So much time playing in front of our fans," said Lee, a fifth-year senior. "It's definitely going to be tough for me and a lot of the older guys."

Many other notable names from Lee's recruiting class are gone.

The top recruits, receiver Derrick Williams and cornerback Justin King, are in the NFL. Two of the most touted prospects in the country, their decisions to sign with Penn State at a time when the school was coming off a string of four losing seasons in five years was considered by recruiting pundits to be a coup for coach Joe Paterno.

King left after his junior season. Williams and safety Anthony Scirrotto — Lee's former roommate — stuck around as seniors in 2008, helping to guide Penn State to its second Big Ten title and BCS bowl in four years.

Lee would have left with them if not for a right knee injury in 2008 spring practice that forced him to take a redshirt year. An All-American candidate, Lee was left to watch the Rose Bowl from the sidelines, cheering on as an unofficial coach.

It was quite the opposite experience from 2005, when Lee was thrust into the lineup as a freshman in the Orange Bowl after linebacker Paul Posluszny left the game with a knee injury.

"We were coming into a situation where Penn State hadn't been winning for a few years. We came in not knowing what kind of season we would have," Lee said. "That whole year was very special. We kind of exploded back on to the scene."

Quarterback Michael Robinson, left tackle Levi Brown and Posluszny helped provide leadership on a squad eager to prove it could compete again nationally.

"They gave us a blueprint in how college football is supposed to be played," said senior end Jerome Hayes, who was part of Lee's freshman class but redshirted in 2005.