The occasion, however, had little to do with the long and prosperous river the captain had navigated to reach such lengths. When the topic is Joe Paterno - still steering Penn State at 81 - it's all about the end of the line and, further, the next skipper.

Recent reports have said that the Nittany Lions coach and his staff have been telling recruits that a succession plan is in place and that the next coach would come from in-house.

"Nobody's been told anything," Paterno said at a news conference before the enshrinement banquet. "The only succession plan that's in place is the fact that when I decide I want to get out of it, I'm going to sit down with the people who should make the decision."

Chief among those people are university president Graham Spanier and director of athletics Tim Curley. Last week, at the bi-monthly Board of Trustees meeting, Spanier said no decision had been made on Paterno's future or his possible successor. Curley reiterated Spanier's comments, but said the subject has been and will be broached.

"Certainly, we've had discussions," Curley said. "It's not like we haven't talked about what's going to happen here with the transition. But now is not the time."

Paterno said he has been asked about a plan, but has refused to chart a course and has not endorsed a candidate.

"There are a lot of good people that could do the job, both on the staff and off the staff," Paterno said. "It's timing. If I coach another three or four years, the whole scene may change."

That is, if he lasts beyond the coming season - the last of his current contract. Both sides have agreed that Paterno doesn't need another contract, but the icon has no assurances beyond 2008 - his 43d season as Penn State's head coach. It could make for a distraction.

"It depends on how things go, obviously," Paterno said. "If we lose five games in a row, I'll probably have to answer some questions."

And so, too, will Spanier, essentially entrusted with the choice of either extending the tenure of an octogenarian or pushing out a legend who says he wants to continue coaching for perhaps as many as six more years. (Paterno added another year yesterday to his usual optimistic outlook of five years.)

"I think you've got to give [Spanier] his due," Paterno said. "He's kind of in a dilemma and he's getting pressure from some people. And I think he's tried very hard to be fair and I want to be fair with him."

Though yesterday's enshrinement was more subdued and less star-studded than December's induction ceremony in New York, Paterno was joined by his wife, Sue, his son and quarterbacks coach, Jay, and several former players, including Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell.

However, despite all his accomplishments - 372 wins, two national championships, high graduation rates - the question remained: How much longer can Paterno keep going?

"He's going to know," Sue Paterno said, adding: "I'm sure we'll talk about it when it's the right time to talk about it. As soon as he says, 'I'm interested in getting out,' then fine, I'll be there."

Some disgruntled fans, though, are hoping for sooner rather than later, noting that the program is 55-42 overall and 32-32 in the Big Ten Conference since 2000. Paterno and his supporters would counter that the Lions are 11-1, 9-4 and 9-4 over the last three seasons.

"I live right here in South Bend where its [Notre Dame's] coach was 3-9, didn't make a bowl game, and no one's calling for his resignation," former player Charlie Pittman said, referring to Charlie Weis.

For Paterno - one of the few active coaches ever to be inducted - the enshrinement came at an odd time considering that the season is near and his focus was on raging waters once metaphorically described by Mark Twain in Life on the Mississippi.

"A riverboat captain has to learn more things than anybody should have to learn in one day," Paterno summarized. "And then the next day the same captain has to learn it in a different way. . . . I don't have time to look back."

Of course, it's better than having no time at all.

"If I had my choice," Paterno said, "I'd rather do [the enshrinement] now than when I'm dead."