Ric Francis / AP

“It’s the players that we ought to be talking about, not where I’m going to be, for crying out loud," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said Wednesday. "Who knows what’s going to happen by Thursday? I might decide to take a boat to Italy.”

Paterno insists this game is no consolation.

“I think it’s just a great thing to be here and to play a team the caliber of Southern Cal. I’m not trying to blow smoke. I think Southern Cal is as good as any football team in the country,” he said.

“If you told me they were going to play Florida, Texas, Oklahoma tomorrow and you said, ’Which is the best?’ I think Southern Cal might be the best team of them all. For us to have an opportunity to play them, I think that’s great. Whether we’re good enough, that’s what we’ve got to find out.”

Both teams appear good enough to win on many fronts. Penn State is averaging 40.2 points and USC 37.5. The Trojans have allowed an NCAA-leading 7.8 points a game, and the Nittany Lions aren’t far behind at 12.4

Penn State’s Daryll Clark has completed 60 percent of his passes for 2,319 yards and 17 touchdowns with only four interceptions, and tailback Evan Royster has rushed for 1,202 yards, averaging 6.5 yards a carry.

For USC, Mark Sanchez has completed 64 percent of his passes for 2,794 yards and 30 touchdowns with 11 interceptions, and Joe McKnight, Stafon Johnson and C.J. Gable have combined to rush for 1,892 yards and 19 TDs.

Sanchez said Penn State is nothing like his team has seen before.

“They just fly around. I’ve seen their offense on film,” he said. “They’re explosive. I know that they have speed. We know they are a formidable opponent.”

Clark said USC is bigger, stronger and faster than the other teams Penn State has played.

“You can’t beat these guys by being tricky,” he said. “You just have to line up and play. You have 11 guys get after the ball as soon as it’s thrown or handed off. They’re really intense. They have speed. The stats don’t lie.”

The Trojans were listed as 9½-point favorites to win a record 24th Rose Bowl.

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“That doesn’t mean that that’s the end of the world,” Paterno said. “I hope we play with the idea we’re going out there to try to win it and not go in there and just keep it close or something like that.

“If there’s an implication that we’re underdogs and hopefully we can go in there and save face or something like that, I don’t believe that’s true of this team.”

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