Penn State has not played the same team twice in one season in 120 years. That could be about to change.

If the Nittany Lions (10-1, 6-1 Big Ten) beat Michigan State (9-2, 6-1) in their regular-season finale at home Saturday and Oregon State defeats Arizona and Oregon in its final two games, the Lions and Beavers would meet in a rematch at the Rose Bowl.

Penn State pounded Oregon State (7-3) the first weekend in September, 45-14, but the Beavers have gone 7-1 since, including a stunning upset of then top-ranked Southern California, 27-21.

According to a clause in the Bowl Championship Series rules, bowls are allowed to adjust their teams to prevent rematches. But another clause prohibits that when the two teams are the automatic qualifiers from the Big Ten and Pac-10.

"A Penn State-Oregon State rematch is not a foregone conclusion," Mitch Dorger, chief executive of the Rose Bowl, said yesterday. "Oregon State has two very tough games left. Penn State has a tough one, too."

According to Gina Chappin, director of media for the Rose Bowl, there only have been five rematches in the previous 94 games. The most recent time it happened was in 1987, when Michigan State beat Southern California by 27-13 in the regular season and by 20-17 in the Rose Bowl.

Penn State hasn't played an opponent two times in the same season since 1888. The Lions, in just the second season of their program, battled Dickinson twice in three games.

Chappin and Corky Conzonire, president of the Tournament of Roses, will attend Saturday's game at Beaver Stadium.

"And pending a win by Penn State, we'll have roses ready to present to the team and coach [Joe] Paterno after the game," Chappin said.

Penn State hasn't been to the Rose Bowl since 1994, when it beat Oregon, 38-20, to finish 12-0 and second behind Nebraska in the polls that year.

Penn State lost to Southern California, 14-3, in the 1923 Rose Bowl.

"We'd love to have Penn State here this year," Dorger said. "We like everything about Penn State. ... Certainly Joe's story is interesting and appealing and will increase the attractiveness of the game."

A rematch between Penn State and Oregon State might not have much appeal nationally, but Dorger is bracing for the possibility.

"We have a deal with the Pac-10 and the Big Ten," he said. "The games don't always turn out the way they look on paper. We would just have to play it and see what happens."

Oregon State's victory against USC gave the Beavers control of the Pac-10 tiebreaker.

In order to advance to the Rose Bowl, the Trojans (9-1) need to win their final two games against Notre Dame and UCLA and have Oregon State lose one more. The Beavers haven't been to the Rose Bowl since 1965.

Roses weren't on Paterno's mind yesterday, nor was his potential hip surgery. He said after this past Saturday's game that he might have an operation the day after the Michigan State game. Yesterday, he was a little more evasive.

"Right now, I don't even want to talk to anybody about it," he said during his weekly conference call. "... This is a big football game for us. If we win this, we can win the Big Ten championship. And it's an 'if.' Michigan State's playing really well."

Later, Paterno said that "we'll probably make a decision either late this week or early next week [about surgery]."

But he doesn't expect it to keep him away from the Rose Bowl if his team beats the Spartans to qualify.

"I certainly am going to be involved one way or the other, even if I have to walk again with a cane for a month," he said.

Paterno, who turns 82 next month, also had a stern message for those who believe Saturday's game might be his final one at Beaver Stadium.

"If we win, a lot of good things can happen to us," he said. "We don't know how good, but we know a lot of good things. Maybe there's bigger things than we think. You can't tell what's going to happen. But I don't think [the fans] should be coming because they think it's my last game."