Penn State football had a quick turnaround after finding out it was going to the Big Ten Championship game after a 44-7 victory over Maryland last Saturday.

In the locker room postgame, James Franklin announced he had good news and bad news. Franklin could no longer give the team the day off on Sunday, but it was because they had to prepare for a trip to Indianapolis, Indiana.

Even after the pivot, players on both sides of the ball emphasized it’s just another week in the Lasch Building while the Nittany Lions expressed optimism once again in their wide receivers.

“It’s the same old Monday,” wide receiver Liam Clifford said. “Guys are coming in and getting extra treatment and doing things to prepare for the game like we would every week. But there’s a lot of excitement because we know the opportunity that we have on Saturday.”

Clifford and the rest of the wide receivers will be lining up against yet another top-10 passing defense in the nation. The Nittany Lions have faced the No. 2 passing defense in Ohio State and the No. 5 group in Washington before facing Oregon, which ranks eighth nationally behind Penn State, which sits in seventh.

Against Ohio State, just two wide receivers caught passes and accounted for 49 of the 150 yards the Nittany Lions gained through the air. In the next game against Washington, Clifford, Trey Wallace, and Julian Fleming hauled in eight catches for 123 of the 220 yards that came through the air.

The group feels they’re on an upward trend going into Saturday, though, and isn’t shying away from another tough test.

“I think we match up well,” Clifford said. “We don’t need to make the moment bigger than it is. We all know what we’re playing for and what we’re working towards. I’m excited for the challenge, and I know the rest of the room is excited for the challenge.”

While Tyler Warren leads the team in receiving yards, Wallace leads the wide receiver room with 579 yards on 35 receptions this year. Wallace was questionable before the season finale and didn’t see the field against Maryland. During his press conference on Sunday, Franklin said that he was “hopeful” the receiver would play in the Big Ten Championship.

If Wallace can’t play Saturday, Drew Allar also feels the rising trajectory of the wide receivers and knows that the group will handle its business against Oregon.

“I have a ton of faith in those guys and the work that they’ve put in,” Allar said. “I have full confidence that whoever’s opportunity it is on Saturday, whenever they get the ball thrown to them, they’ll make the plays we need to make.”

Perhaps the greatest strength for the wide receivers is how much emphasis is put on containing Warren week in and week out. Warren has 46 more receptions than Wallace and has 978 yards to Wallace’s 579 during the regular season.

Locking down Warren takes resources off of the receivers, and Clifford said that having such a dynamic player on the team makes Andy Kotelnicki’s already tricky offense that much harder to take out of the game. For the majority of the season, defenses haven’t been able to contain the tight end.

“It’s tough to game plan for someone like that, especially when you couple it with a guy that’s going to make a play no matter what,” Clifford said. “The dude’s a stud, and I know he’s ready for moments like this.”

While it’s just another week for the players and coaches around the program, there’s also excitement for what the team can accomplish this weekend in Indianapolis.

The anticipation isn’t getting in the way of the preparation, though. While Allar has played in the Peach Bowl and was the backup during the Nittany Lions’ Rose Bowl win in 2022, it’s his first trip to a game with such massive implications. It hasn’t changed the process, and even though Allar described the Oregon defense as one of the “fastest” and “physical” teams they’ve seen all season, the team feels ready for Saturday.

“No matter who we’re playing or where we’re playing, we’ve got to stick to our routine and find ways to get better throughout the week,” Allar said. “We’ve done that throughout the first 12 weeks of the regular season, and there’s no point in switching that right now.”