"I've been accused of road rage," Paterno said. "I was only doing something I've done plenty of times to students."

Paterno explained that he saw a car drive through a stop sign on Bigler Road, at which point he honked his horn and pulled the car over to the side of the road.

"I pointed my finger at [the woman driver]," Paterno said. "I did not give her the middle finger, even if I knew what that meant."

Paterno told the unidentified woman that he had seen what she had done and that he had her license-plate number. A man then approached the 80-year-old coach and told him that the woman was his wife, Paterno said.

"I shouldn't have said this, but I said to him, 'That's your problem,' " Paterno said last night.

Paterno had recounted the incident a day earlier at the State College Quarterback Club luncheon in State College, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

Penn State police said the woman, an employee of the university, filed a report shortly after the noon incident. She claimed that a male driver had committed a traffic violation and behaved in a disorderly fashion at 12:09 p.m.

Tyrone Parham, the assistant director for university police, said an investigation was conducted.

"We spoke to both parties and could not find anything for cause to file charges," Parham said. "Because there weren't any witnesses, or a police officer didn't witness the incident, the investigation has been closed."

The incident occurred near the Food Science Building, a busy part of campus. Parham said he was surprised that no one saw the episode. Because a charge was not made, names would not be released, Parham said.

Jeff Nelson, Penn State's assistant athletic director for communications, said the athletic department had no comment.

The incident, first reported on an Internet message board, was brought up at Paterno's weekly teleconference on Tuesday, but he declined to talk about it, responding, "Come on, let's go."

The incident was the latest in a series of off-the-field issues for the Nittany Lions' program this year.

On Friday, starting running back Austin Scott was suspended from the team indefinitely for an unspecified violation of team rules. Two freshmen, running back Joe Suhey and punter Ryan Breen, were cited for underage drinking last weekend, a little over a month after sophomore tight end Andrew Quarless and junior defensive back Willie Harriott were cited for the same violation.

Early Sunday morning, several Penn State players may have been part of a fight on campus that resulted in at least one injury, university police said.

The incident remained under investigation, according to police. Paterno said Tuesday that he was made aware that some of his players may have been involved.

Still awaiting trial for their alleged roles in an April off-campus brawl are junior safety Anthony Scirrotto and sophomore defensive tackle Chris Baker. Scirrotto and Baker are facing a number of charges, including trespass and assault.