STATE COLLEGE -- Waiting all day to kick off the biggest game of the season so far, Penn State's players had to have some idea about what transpired around the nation before they even took the field Saturday night.

On Thursday, top-ranked Southern Cal lost to a team PSU routed two weeks earlier. Before the Nittany Lions even boarded the buses to head to the stadium Saturday, ranked teams like Florida (fourth), Wake Forest (16th), Clemson (20th) and East Carolina (24th) already lost. By the time PSU kicked off, Wisconsin (9th) also went down and word spread quickly that No. 3 Georgia -- with its own Blackout in Athens -- was getting stomped by eighth-ranked Alabama in the first half.

So following Penn State's two-touchdown victory over No. 22 Illinois on Saturday night and a day filled with upsets around the nation, the Nittany Lions are right in the middle of the talk about the national title, although the players are still trying to hide their excitement.

"We're not focused on that," senior Derrick Williams said following one of the most spectacular performances of his PSU career, even as he tried to hide a sly smile. "Well, we are focused on that but I'm trying to be humble. We think every day (about) the national championship. ... If we're not thinking that right now, we shouldn't be playing this game at all."

Saturday's victory vaulted the Nittany Lions from 12th in both the writers' and coaches' polls into the top 10 for the first time since they peaked at No. 10 last September. Penn State is ranked 6th in both polls, its highest ranking since finishing the 2005 Big Ten championship season No. 3 behind Texas and Southern Cal.

Right now rankings really don't matter. In fact, rankings never matter until the final set come out following the bowl season, something that coach Joe Paterno has stressed to his players for decades in Happy Valley.

"This college football game is a crazy thing," said Williams, who racked up 241 total yards and became the first player in Paterno's 43 seasons to score a touchdown via a rush, reception and return in the same game. "Anyone can beat you at any given time."

"You really have to prepare for every week and play hard on every down of every game," said tailback Evan Royster. "That's the only way you are going to win."

For the first time this season, Penn State faced some adversity Saturday night and it responded the way good football teams do.

Illinois scored touchdowns on its first two possessions, the first points the Nittany Lions have allowed in the first quarter this season. Penn State responded by scoring three times in a row to take a 21-14 lead at the half.

"They did a really good job (responding to adversity)," Paterno said. "(Illinois) went down and then we they came back and they went down (again). We hung in there and didn't lose our poise."

Penn State quickly pushed the lead to 10 in the third quarter before Illinois got back within a touchdown on a field goal on the final play of the third. That set up Williams' final piece of heroics when he returned a kickoff 94 yards on the first play of the fourth to give PSU a two-touchdown lead.

"It was a game that we really needed," said Royster. "It was tough coming from behind when we were down seven points early. To come from behind like that is something you really have to prepare for."

"I have been saying all along that I wouldn't know how good we were until we got into a tough football game; one with a little back and forth and (where) we couldn't do everything we wanted to," said Paterno. "We had that kind of ball game.

"That is as important as the record because we can now play with a little more assurance."