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Hard work makes Mauti a star for Penn State

TO HEAR HIS more celebrated teammates tell it, somebody ought to make a movie about Penn State's inspirational scout-team plugger, Patrick Mauti.

TO HEAR HIS more celebrated teammates tell it, somebody ought to make a movie about Penn State's inspirational scout-team plugger, Patrick Mauti.

Oh, wait. Somebody already has. "Rudy," which came out in 1993, is the uplifting tale of Notre Dame walk-on Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, who made up for a lack of talent with a bottomless supply of determination that was manifested daily on the practice field. He never made it into an actual game, though, until the regular-season finale of his senior season, when he ended the contest with a straight-out-of-Hollywood sack of the quarterback.

The Penn State journey of Mauti, a fifth-year senior from Mandeville, La., differs somewhat from that of Ruettiger's emergence as a Fighting Irish folk hero. For one thing, Mauti, a 5-10, 190-pound graduate student who is in his fifth year in Happy Valley, has been playing all along. He's on the kickoff-coverage unit and presumably will occupy that role again tomorrow when No. 18 Penn State hosts Indiana for another emotion-drenched Senior Day in Beaver Stadium.

But the highlight of the day for the 18 seniors will be the pregame ceremony, during which they individually will run out of the tunnel to the cheers of 107,000-plus spectators and a meeting at midfield with their beaming parents. Rich and Nancy Mauti will be there to make the occasion all the more special for the older of their two Penn State football-player sons. Michael, a sophomore linebacker, was redshirted this season after tearing up a knee in preseason drills.

"I'm kind of sad it's coming to an end," Patrick Mauti said. "This season has gone by a little quicker than I expected. But it's going to be a great experience. I don't think it'll hit me until after all the festivities, or even after the game . . . maybe not until after the season."

If there is any magic pixie dust that didn't land on Rudy, perhaps some can be sprinkled on Mauti, whom other Nittany Lions revere as if he were an All-America. It probably is too much to hope for that he catch the winning touchdown pass, but even one reception under any circumstances would double his career total. His only previous catch came in the 2008 regular-season finale, a 4-yarder in the late going as coach Joe Paterno cleared his bench in a 49-18 blowout of visiting Michigan State.

"Not a lot of playing time, not a lot of numbers in games, but he comes to practice every single day and works as if he's a starter," quarterback Daryll Clark said of Mauti. "He's never complained when in some situations he could have. He didn't say anything, kept his mouth shut and kept working. Every football team has a Pat Mauti, or at least it should have."

Defensive end Jerome Hayes said Mauti has contributed to the team in ways that can't be quantified by statistics.

"Pat came in with me in 2005," Hayes recalled. "A bit undersized for a wide receiver, not the fastest guy, not the greatest hands, but he's definitely one of the top five hardest workers on this team. Pat gives it his all. He's like a coach out there."

Mauti's work ethic apparently is a case of the apple not falling far from the tree. Rich Mauti, 55, was a Penn State wideout in the 1970s who went on to play eight seasons in the NFL, the first seven of which were with the New Orleans Saints. The senior Mauti caught only 21 passes as a pro, but he became something of a folk hero to Superdome faithful as a special-teams gunner who didn't mind sacrificing his body to blow up opponents' kick returns.

Patrick was an option quarterback for the Mandeville High Skippers who had an opportunity to play football and even tennis at smaller schools like Division III Millsaps (Miss.) College. But Penn State was always his first choice, even if it meant walking on.

"I sat down with my dad and he never pressured me to come here," Mauti said. "We went over the pros and cons. He said it didn't matter where you went to school as long as you put education first. When you leave Penn State with a degree, it's pretty special."

He has put what he's learned to good use as a de facto counselor to true freshmen wideouts Justin Brown, Curtis Drake and Devon Smith, all of whom have helped push him a bit further down the depth chart.

"They're all going to be really good players here," Mauti said. "I just felt that, as a senior, I had to take on more of a leadership role. If they're better athletes than me, that's fine."

Mauti's dream is for Penn State to play in the Sugar Bowl, a homecoming which looks like a longshot at best. A more likely possibility is a meeting with LSU in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, which wouldn't be a bad consolation prize.

"If we did play LSU, that'd be fun," Mauti said. "I've always wanted to play LSU."

3 things to look for

* Penn State to max-protect at times to slow the pass rush of defensive ends Jammie Kirlew and Greg Middleton, who have combined for 8 1/2 sacks and 21 tackles for loss. They're the best thing the Hoosiers have going for them.

* Lots and lots of different looks and trickery out of IU's "Pistol" offense, which is a hybrid combination of the triple-option, Wildcat and anything else dreamed up in the creative mind of offensive coordinator Matt Canada.

* A quick start by the Penn State offense, something that hasn't happened much lately. "We can't come out flat," tight end Andrew Quarless said. "We have to really stick it to them."

Prediction

Penn State 42, Indiana 14