EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald may tweet and text and be up on all the ways of the world. Yet, he still has that old-school approach to the game he loves.

There's the game face, the crew cut and the respect for those who've been coaching long before his short career began.

Like Joe Paterno.

"Coach Paterno is college football," Fitzgerald said as his Wildcats got ready to meet the 12th-ranked Nittany Lions and their legendary coach here Saturday.

"I don't want to speak for other coaches but for me he's a role model and someone who we aspire to be," he added.

Fitzgerald's first experience coaching in a Big Ten game came against Paterno and the Nittany Lions in the 2006 season, a 33-7 Nittany Lions victory at State College. Fitzgerald, then just 31, had been a coach only for a few months following the death of Randy Walker.

Eleven years earlier, the Nittany Lions — and Paterno — really got an eyeful of Fitzgerald. He was wearing a dark No. 51 Northwestern jersey and seemed to be in on every tackle as the Wildcats beat Penn State in Evanston on their way to the Rose Bowl.

"We had Keith Jackson to do that game, it's probably one I'll never forget. I think as a defense we were on the field for 48 minutes that game, at least that's what it felt like. We found a way to get the win," Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald was born in 1974 — eight years after Paterno had become head coach of the Nittany Lions.

"We had our troubles with Northwestern out there when Fitzgerald was there," Paterno sai. "He was a heck of a football player ... smart, tough, the whole business.

"You knew when he decided to coach, he'd be a heck of a coach," he added.