Back in late November when Penn State football lost to Iowa and stood at an unprecedented 0-5, a winless season suddenly became a real possibility in many eyes.

Three weeks later, the Nittany Lions now have won three straight games and are starting to look more and more like their normal selves. Despite an ugly start to Saturday’s contest, an electric second half gave Penn State a 39-24 victory over Michigan State.

While a 3-5 record isn’t anywhere near James Franklin and his team’s standards, the group remains proud of the effort they’ve put together over these past few weeks. Franklin echoed a statement postgame that he’s made a lot recently: The Nittany Lions are “finding ways to win” once again, something they’ve managed to do plenty of times over the past few seasons.

This winning culture has been passed down by each of Penn State’s seniors, all 12 of whom were celebrated on Senior Day Saturday.

“We just told everybody you gotta keep investing,” senior defensive end Shaka Toney said. “Anything in life, when you come up short, the first thing people do is turn and run. You gotta figure out another way to invest, another way of getting better, that’s what we did.

“It’s been a tough season. It’s now what we expected. But I think people should be proud of the way this team finished,” Toney added.

Toney, who finished his afternoon with five total tackles, including one for a loss, was among a group of seniors who took a lap around Beaver Stadium after Saturday’s win. That crew included offensive linemen Michal Menet and Will Fries, safeties Jaquan Brisker and Lamont Wade, and defensive end Shane Simmons, among others.

“Possibly my last game in Beaver Stadium, I’m just incredibly grateful for everybody in this program,” Menet said. “This town has loved me and loved us, I’ve loved them since I got here, and I’ll continue to for the rest of my life. It’s definitely bittersweet.”

Menet, who arrived in Happy Valley in 2016, has made 23 starts at center as a Nittany Lion. As one of the most experienced members of the offensive line, the Birdsboro, Pennsylvania native remains proud of how the team has battled down the stretch of this tough campaign.

“These last three games, I think the biggest difference is we really got back to our process,” Menet said. “Not to say our culture wasn’t good, but I think guys really started to invest. Maybe at the beginning of the season we were kind of playing as individuals, we didn’t really buy in enough to our culture and our process…”

“It’s really from the top down. It always starts with Coach Franklin, the captains echo that message, and the seniors take control of their position groups. There’s always a time in the season when we decide who we are, who we’re gonna be, and we need to start holding people accountable…”

For a senior class with several members who have been in Happy Valley since the legendary 2016 season, Saturday’s send-off didn’t feel right to say the least. While they do technically have a chance to stay for one more season thanks to an NCAA ruling, Franklin was sad to see his seniors play their possible final game in Beaver Stadium without a crowd.

“It was emotional for me to watch those seniors at the end of the game,” Franklin said. “Typically those guys get to walk the stadium and high five all the fans. A lot of times the fans will stay and show support towards them. To watch those guys walking around in an empty stadium, was emotional for me.”

It remains unclear what will happen with the rest of this 2020 season. The Big Ten hasn’t yet announced how it will handle its week nine, but if the Nittany Lions do play a game and win, it wouldn’t be out of the question that they’d qualify for a bowl game.

Either way, Penn State will be happy to get any chance to play another game. Outside of playing some more football, the Nittany Lions remain eager to send out their seniors on a strong note.

“That was a huge emphasis coming in to today, making sure our seniors leave on the right note,” Jahan Dotson said. “They’ve spent countless hours shaping this program, showing us the ropes when we were young guys. That was huge. Those are our brothers, you never want to let them down.”