One day after the Orange Bowl, Penn State defensive end Matt Rice hoisted himself onto a table, turned onto his stomach and received a massage. "I needed to relax my muscles, man," the defensive end said.

The soreness lingering from his last college game left his body. And the newness of his future, flooding in like water undammed, suddenly took its place.

Having earned his degree in December, he traveled next to Cleveland to begin several months of training. He realized the unfamiliar dynamics of post-college football. He was a Nittany Lion (or was it former Nittany Lion?) preparing for the antiseptic testing of the NFL's annual scouting combine, which begins today. He fraternized with the others training alongside him in Cleveland, including Northwestern's Barry Cofield and Ohio State's Donte Whitner.

"Me kicking back and relaxing with an O-State guy, that used to be unheard of," Rice said. "But now, we're on common ground."

The common ground of the next step. Though the Indianapolis-based scouting combine formally opened Wednesday, players do not begin workouts until today. More than 300 players, including six of Rice's Penn State teammates, will be interviewed and analyzed. They will run 40-yard sprints and submit to orthopedic examinations. They will be watched like never before.

"The last couple months have been game-planning for this experience," Rice said. "It's a strenuous experience, because it's really on you to perform. The way it was before, I was playing for my family at Penn State. And I will always be representing Penn State, but now, I also have a responsibility to my family, and my future family, so that keeps me thinking about the responsibility."

The seven Penn Staters at the combine -- some arrived in Indianapolis several days ago; others, like Rice, only arrived yesterday -- are now jockeying for their next team. Though the group keeps in touch by phone, most players have not seen one another since the end of the season. Three of them lived together at times during college -- Rice, quarterback Michael Robinson and cornerback Alan Zemaitis. Chris Harrell and Calvin Lowry played most recently as Penn State's two safeties. Anwar Phillips played cornerback opposite Zemaitis. Tamba Hali, the team's best prospect and most likely a first-round pick, played on the line opposite Rice.

Now, they are together in one spot, dependant on one another to ease the nerves of the situation. As its name suggests, the NFL's annual scouting combine applies a central gathering point to the football galaxy. Hundreds of soon-to-be professionals turn up in Indianapolis, along with a procession of followers: people with mikes, people with clipboards, people with stopwatches. People searching for hints about who to draft, or not draft, on the last weekend in April.

During the upcoming days, league talent evaluators will look at some 330 players, including three from Pitt (receiver Greg Lee, offensive lineman Charles Spencer and safety Josh Lay) and two from West Virginia (defensive backs Dee McCann and Jahmile Addae). Though debate has long persisted about the value of the combine, most NFL teams use it to check for the chance of players' unknown medical problems, feel out their personalities and observe their raw skills.

Every once in a while, though, a combine performance can drastically raise a player's value. In 1995, Boston College defensive end Mike Mamula ran a sub-4.4 40 and prompted the Philadelphia Eagles to draft him seventh overall. Last season, Arkansas quarterback-turned-wideout Matt Jones showed enough speed that Jacksonville picked him 21^st.

The combine has grown, all the while, from a quiet league event into a televised spectacle. (The NFL Network will provide live coverage each of the remaining days.) Players have participated in an array of news conferences. Now, the workouts begin. Players will be X-rayed, measured, photographed and tested for intelligence. They will work out with others at their position and, in the most noted strength test, be asked to bench-press 225 pounds as many times as they can manage.

"I can't really say what it's going to be like," Rice said of the experience. "It's kind of like the snap of a ball: You have no idea what will happen until you're in the middle of it."