It’s been a wild season for Penn State football legend Trace McSorley.

After becoming the face of a viral TikTok trend before the season got underway, the second-year Baltimore Ravens quarterback saw significant time earlier this month against the Pittsburgh Steelers. With Lamar Jackson unavailable and Robert Griffin III injured, McSorley checked in late with the Ravens down 19-7.

While he couldn’t lead Baltimore to a miraculous comeback victory, he did connect with Marquise Brown on a 70-yard touchdown to bring the Ravens within one possession of the Steelers.

Just earlier this week on Monday Night Football, McSorley again checked in late against the Cleveland Browns while Jackson was dealing with cramping issues. He completed just one pass, but it was a 13-yard completion on 3rd and 10 that was key in helping the Ravens keep their drive rolling.

Shortly after that play, the Nittany Lion went down with a knee sprain that will keep him on injured reserve for the next few weeks.

With all of those recent moments under his belt, McSorley joined Big Cat and PFT Commenter of “Pardon My Take” to discuss everything from his increased playing time and TikTok fame.

The hosts cut to the chase with McSorley to discuss why exactly Jackson missed two drives late against the Browns on Monday Night Football, and what those “cramping” issues might’ve actually been.

“It was cramps,” McSorley said. “[Lamar] said his forearm was cramping. That run into the locker room where everyone said it look like a ‘poop run,’ it was his calf cramping. He was trying not to let it lock up on him.”

Penn State’s all-time leader for passing touchdowns has been forced to fill in for Jackson on multiple occasions this season. Now in his second campaign in the league behind Jackson, who was selected as the NFL’s 2019 MVP, McSorley has settled into the backup role.

“Part of it is just trying to stay mentally locked in,” McSorley said. “We got the earpiece, get the call, know what play we’re running from our offensive coordinator. Trying to do a mental rep every time as best you can. It does get a little bit difficult at times…I always like to keep a smelling salt with me just if I need to be ready to go.”

Aside from his on-field ability, the hosts discussed how much of McSorley’s success can be attributed to his parents calling him “Trace” even though his given name is “Richard.”

“I think it definitely set me on a path,” McSorley said. “Trace Armstrong, great football player. That’s kinda where my parents got the name. Ricky McSorley, Trace McSorley, I think [the second] has a little bit more of a ring to it as a player.”

Maybe the ring of McSorley’s name also helped him achieve his recent TikTok fame, which he also dived into.

“I didn’t know what was going on,” McSorley said. “I just downloaded the app like a week ago. I woke up one morning and all these people were sending me this video that this kid made with the song that the dude made when I was in college. It was really weird and random how it all came about.”

Even with the recent TikTok fame and success for the Ravens, McSorley will go down first and foremost as a Nittany Lion legend. He looked back at some of his favorite memories at Penn State, namely the White Out.

“It was a completely different feel from even walking into the Big House at Michigan,” McSorley said. “They got the highest seating capacity, but it’s not the same electric type energy that you have with the White Out. It’s one of those things, you have to go to it to actually experience it.”

With some of those great memories in mind, McSorley recounted his favorite game from his Penn State career. Big Cat, a Wisconsin alum, asked him to pick any game besides the 2016 Big Ten Championship.

“I’ll go with the 2017 White Out against Michigan,” McSorley said. “I don’t remember the final score, I know we blew them out though.”

After discussing just how great it was to be QB1 at Penn State during some legendary days for the Nittany Lions, McSorley closed out the interview. He’ll be on the IR for the rest of the regular season, but his Ravens will try to stay hot against the Jaguars this Sunday.