A season ago, Sean Clifford posted the second-most total yards in the Big Ten, trailing only Ohio State’s esteemed gunslinger Justin Fields. His No. 1 target, Jahan Dotson, concluded his junior campaign as the conference’s receiving champion.

If the two premier faces of Penn State football’s offensive attack could’ve seen where they’d finish the year individually without knowing the end result in the win-loss column, both would have likely predicted an extremely successful team outcome.

Ironically, last season served as anything but an overarching achievement. Instead, Clifford’s statistical success was greatly overshadowed by his regression on the field, which included a short stint on the bench during the midst of a dismal five-game losing streak. Now, with the adversity in hindsight, the matured signal-caller believes his prior troubles will directly transfer into his future ascension.

“I’m really proud of the way that I handled it personally, and I’m very thankful for my teammates as well because they had my back through it all,” Clifford said Monday. “It was definitely a challenge, to be benched on national television and for everybody to see, it takes a lot just out of you because you’re that guy, you want to lead your team, you want to be there for everybody, and then the one week that you don’t have that opportunity, it kind of hurts.

“I honestly just looked at it as an opportunity to grow, an opportunity to learn, and an opportunity to try to give the team a spark in a different way than I usually do every week,” he continued. “So it was a challenge, but at the same time, I think that week or two was definitely one of the best experiences I’ve had in football.”

This offseason, Clifford is the clear-cut, undisputed leader of the quarterback room in his fifth year on campus. Although Clifford’s commanding presence within the program has been a staple for nearly half a decade, the Ohio native is currently in the process of learning his fourth offensive system as a Nittany Lion.

While many quarterbacks would view the lack of continuity as a ploy for inconsistency, Clifford sees the change as a medium for improvement.

“I’m enjoying every minute of being coached by him,” Clifford said about new offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. “He’s a great coach. Like I said, he’s very inspiring, and at the same time, he makes me want to come to work every day, and that’s what we’ve been doing, we’ve been working.”

Clifford’s main target, Dotson, has channeled the dedicated, hardworking attitude to a new degree. As one of the most exciting downfield weapons in the nation a season ago, he believes he can take his game to the next level this season by striving to cement himself in “legendary” status.

“Every year, the expectation I have for myself is to be better than the last,” Dotson said. “I had a pretty solid season last year I would say, but I want to have a remarkable season, one that you guys will never forget.

“Every day, I go to meetings, I write at the top of my notebook, ‘Be legendary,’” Dotson added. “That’s one thing I want to preach this year, just being legendary, basically, and leaving my mark on Penn State football and college football as a whole. That’s one expectation I have for myself.”

In today’s game, it’s rare for a team’s most valuable offensive asset to return for his fourth season instead of forgoing eligibility to cash in at the pro level. For Dotson, the chance to earn a spot among the greatest to ever don the blue and white was too enticing to pass up.

Throughout the offseason, Dotson talked with other players in similar positions, including Tariq Castro-Fields and Jaquan Brisker, about taking advantage of their additional eligibility to restore Penn State’s prowesses on a national scale. The conversations resulted in a mutual theme: There is unfinished business left in Happy Valley.

“We kind of just met up together one day, and we just talked about it a little bit, and we just kind of talked about how Coach Franklin always preaches championship habits and the standard of Penn State football, and we felt like last year, we didn’t meet that standard,” Dotson said.

“We wanted to be those leaders on the team who set the standard for years to come after us, and we know that Penn State football is used to winning, and that’s what we got to do,” he continued. “We got to meet that standard, and we felt like this was the perfect opportunity for us to showcase our talents and meet that standard and achieve some great goals.”

Through the first two weeks of spring ball, both Clifford and Dotson feel as though the offense is well on its way to returning to its explosive status. Behind Yurcich’s lead, players are eager to install a potentially record-setting attack.

“He’s a fiery guy, and I think that a lot of people have talked about it, but he’s somebody who, as he says, ‘brings the juice’ every day,” Clifford said. “He’s never short of it, and he’s just been really inspiring to this offense and has given us a lot of optimism and has made us all excited to be here, excited to really come into work every single day, and I think that’s what we need honestly.”

“The first day he stepped in, I loved the energy [Yurcich] brought to the team and everything he was about,” Dotson said. “It’s been fun working with him, and I honestly can’t wait to go through the whole season with him and everything, and just dive into new things I can learn. I talked about previous learning new things from all the coaches I’ve been able to have. He’s a mastermind, and I just can’t wait to pick his brain apart and learn the new things that he has to offer.”

Aside from expecting team-wide improvement, both players are entering the upcoming campaign with an added sense of pressure for individual development. The task may seem daunting to any outsider. But to Clifford and Dotson, achieving pre-determined goals makes the offseason work worth the sacrifice.

“I feel truly grown up through the sport now,” Clifford said. “I understand times of adversity. I’ve had both now. I’ve had triumphs and trials. And I appreciate every single bit of it throughout my whole career, but it’s not even close to being over yet, so I’m excited for what lies in the future.”

“I kind of approach every day the exact same,” Dotson said. “Whether I’m on the bench, a starter, whatever it is, I approach it the exact same, and that’s going out and competing every day like I have something to prove, because that’s the only way I’m going to push myself to get better, and that’s the only way I’m going to push my teammates to get better — is me going out and giving my all every single day.”