Penn State football’s injury bug has infiltrated its wide receiver room.

Matt Campbell announced that standout wideout Koby Howard is out for an “extended period of time” after suffering an injury in Penn State’s Week 3 matchup against Buffalo.

Howard’s injury is deflating for the Nittany Lions and the Penn State faithful heading into Big Ten play. There’s no other way around it.

The rest of the room has to step up in his place, but it’s also focused on making sure he’s mentally sound after having such a promising start to the season stripped away.

“Just picking him up. Telling him we got him, and he knows that. Just helping him out in any way we can to get him back as fast as possible,” Brett Eskildsen said after practice on Wednesday.

Eskildsen played through Penn State’s non-conference slate a little banged up himself. He is barely getting back to full health and should be a big part of the game plan against Wisconsin.

He, Chase Sowell, Zay Robinson, Amarion Jackson, and Karon Brookins will have their work cut out for them to fill Howard’s shoes against the Badgers on Saturday, but there isn’t time to mull on it.

“Obviously, it’s unfortunate to have a player like Koby go down, but I think we’re confident in the depth of our room and the preparation that we’re putting in, so we’ll be alright,” Eskildsen said. “But obviously it sucks to have him down and out for a little bit.”

Not only does Howard’s absence immediately erase around half of Penn State’s offensive productivity, but it’s a moral hit.

The players can all say that it’s a “next man up” mentality, but Howard is the Nittany Lions’ X-factor. The timing of his injury is also pretty brutal, with Penn State set to take on the toughest stretch of its schedule.

It’s just an unfortunate situation for Howard, the receiving room, and the team. The receiving room is deep, but truthfully, can it carry the load without him?

“I think the hard part is, as much as I talk about Koby earning the right to have the success he’s had, I think that’s probably more so the disappointing part of it for him is just knowing how hard he’s worked,” Campbell said. “The reality is, he’ll work just as hard to get back and better than ever.”

Howard is now Penn State’s third long-term injury of the season.

Defensive end Max Granville suffered a season-ending injury in practice before the Temple game, and offensive lineman Will Tompkins will miss the rest of the year as well.

None of them feel as devastating as Howard’s, but the only thing to do is rally around him and keep moving along.

“Obviously disappointing for Koby, but he handled it really well, and I think the best interest [for] him going forward, making sure we do right by him [and for our] football team,” Campbell said.

Campbell did not provide a specific timetable for Howard’s return, but the sophomore hinted at a possible resurgence against Michigan on October 17.