Saturday will mark the 27th battle between Penn State and Illinois, and the first since the infamous nine-overtime duel in 2021.
"You're the only position that can't mess up. Even if it's a bad snap, you have to come back and have a perfect one the next time."
Five true freshmen have seen the field during both of Penn State's opening matchups, potentially heading toward burning redshirt statuses.
"Obviously, Illinois plays a lot of teams extremely tough. So it's definitely going to be a challenge for us this week."
Matthews committed to the Nittany Lions in January as the Class of 2025's first recruit.
FanDuel currently has posted a line sitting at just over two touchdowns, or +14.5 points, in favor of Penn State.