Jim Lytle, Associated Press Jackie Sherrill rarely backed down from an argument. Click photo for larger image.

The Hatfields and McCoys settle their differences. Democrats and Republicans group hug at the Capitol. Terrell Owens and Ray Lewis become bosom buddies.

Oh, it could happen.

Joe Paterno and Jackie Sherrill, who once upon a time had one of the most contentious relationships in the sporting world, will break bread together Saturday night when Sherrill makes his first trip to State College in almost a quarter century.

This weekend, Sherrill and his wife, Peggy, are the guests of Paterno and his wife, Sue.

The Sherrills will attend the Northwestern game Saturday afternoon, then will be dinner guests at Paterno's home.

"Well," Sherrill said. "Joe invited Peggy. I just get to tag along."

He was kidding. It turns out the longtime rivals are friendly these days. But it wasn't always that way.

The last time Sherrill, Pitt's head coach from 1977-81, visited Penn State his Pitt Panthers knocked Paterno and the Nittany Lions out of a New Year's Day bowl game with a 14-9 victory. That was 1980, at the height of the Pitt-Penn State rivalry and at a time when the coaches shared a common and honest dislike for one another.

Paterno and Sherrill developed a heated rivalry during the late 1970s and early '80s, when both schools were among the national college football elite.

They played five memorable games from 1977-81, with Penn State winning three, including the 48-14 Penn State victory at Pitt Stadium in '81 that ruined Pitt's national championship hopes.

In '79, Sherrill was the unwitting subject of one of the great quotes from Paterno. At one of his off-the-record cocktail parties with newspaper types, a reporter asked Paterno whether he would ever consider giving up coaching to enter politics.

Paterno replied: "What ... and leave college coaching to the [Barry] Switzers and Sherrills?"

The quote never was meant to leave the room. But The New York Times printed it, and it was reprinted in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and across the country after that.

The remark implied cheating and improprieties at Pitt and Oklahoma. Paterno apologized to Switzer, the former coach of the Sooners, but he never apologized to Sherrill.

On Monday, Sherrill said Paterno doesn't have to apologize.

"I would never ask him to apologize," Sherrill said. "That's not an issue. That has no bearing on my feelings for Joe. A lot of things were said. That was said at an off-the-record thing at his house.

"I've never had a hatchet [to bury]. When two people compete, things happen. There's a big difference when you're talking about things later in life. There's never been a question about respect from either of us."

Sherrill left Pitt after the 1981 season for a lucrative contract at Texas A&M. He coached the Aggies until '88, when he was forced out after the NCAA handed down sanctions. He landed at Mississippi State, which recently was put on probation for a second time for NCAA violations that occurred under Sherrill's watch.

Sherrill left Mississippi State after last season, thus this is his first opportunity to spend fall weekends on the social circuit.

For Paterno and Sherrill, it seems time has healed the wounds. They have spent time with each other on the annual Nike coaches trips. After a while, the bad blood dissipated.

"It's different when you're not trying to punch each other in the mouth," Paterno said yesterday.

Paterno also said his 1979 remark was meant in jest and took on a life of its own. He has said similar things in the past, although in the biography "No Ordinary Joe", he said "What I said I said in a flippant, smart-alecky way, but it has its point."

Sherrill, 60, is officially retired with no ambitions to get back into coaching. He and Peggy moved to Tennessee to be closer to their daughter and two small grandchildren, Daniel, 2, and Jackson Palmer, two weeks.

The move has been therapeutic for Sherrill, who last year lost his mother and two brothers. Daniel was at his home Monday, with Jackie loving his role as doting grandfather.

"There's no description for grandkids," he said. "I'm amazed at the relationship I have with my grandson. I'm amazed at the relationship he has with his grandmother.

"I'd like to take credit for him being so smart," he added. "But I don't think I can."

Sherrill stays in touch with football by doing some local radio in Memphis and a call-in show once a week at Mississippi State. He also coaches the punters, kickers and long snappers at two local high schools.

But football will be a part-time endeavor for the rest of his life. He is quite content in his current role, although he said he has no plans to tell Paterno how great retirement is.

"Joe deserves to do that himself," Sherrill said. "When I see him on these trips, I know there's no question about his health or his energy or his mind. You can't question those things."

"I've never had a hatchet [to bury]. When two people compete, things happen."