Penn State is 5-0 for the first time in three years and has climbed to No. 6 in the polls. Now the Nittany Lions must tackle their biggest challenge -- winning on the road in the Big Ten Conference.

In recent seasons, life away from home has proven to be quite bumpy for Penn State.

The Lions, who play four of their next five conference games on the road starting with the match-up Saturday at Purdue, have won just 12 of their past 32 Big Ten road games.

In the past eight years, Penn State has produced one winning road record in conference play, going 3-1 in 2005.

"Obviously, we've had some problems on the road," coach Joe Paterno said yesterday. "But we've been beaten by teams that just either were better than we were or better coached, or just played better. I don't know."

Penn State is 4-0 at home this season, and its lone road win was a 55-13 pasting of Syracuse in a non-conference game at the Carrier Dome.

"It's an absolute challenge any time you go on the road and are playing against a Big Ten team," quarterback Daryll Clark said. "Those guys want to be playing really hard and try to get a win against you.

"One of the main things you have to do once you're on the road is be able to step into a hostile environment and match their intensity and try to carry out your game plan as much as possible. There may be a bump in the road here or there, but we have to be able to weather the storm and continue to play."

With road games looming against nationally ranked Wisconsin and Ohio State in the next month, it's pertinent to point out that the Lions are 0-10 away from home against ranked opponents since beating the 19th-ranked Badgers, 34-31, in 2002.

"I'm not really sure what exactly it might have been on the road," defensive tackle Jared Odrick said. "But I can tell you this year it's a little bit different of a focus overall for our team. We realize what we can do. We realize what's ahead of us and what the possibilities are if we do win some big games on the road."

Penn State may have to face Purdue without wide receiver Jordan Norwood once again. Norwood injured his hamstring in practice last week and did not play in the Lions' Big Ten opener against Illinois.

He is officially listed as probable for Saturday's game at Ross-Ade Stadium -- Penn State is 4-1 there since 1995 -- but Clark said Norwood's practice time was limited Monday. He leads the Lions in catches (18), yards (318) and touchdowns (4).

"He was out there [doing some] lightweight jogging and doing some slight sprints, just trying to see where the hamstring is," Clark said. "I think it is a day-to-day thing about if he's going to play or not. ... I'm really not sure what is going to happen. I think he tweaked a hamstring really good."

Clark acknowledged that he took a helmet to the knee toward the end of the Illinois game.

"Everything is fine," he said. "No ligaments are messed up. It just swelled up a little bit. I've just been icing it and putting a knee sleeve over my knee during practice, but that's about it."

NOTES -- Paterno's sore right leg still is bothering him, but he plans to be on the sideline against Purdue. "I tell the guys on the team, there's a difference between being hurt and being injured," he said. "If you're injured, we don't want you to play. But, if you're hurt, you better get out there. Right now, I'm hurt." ... Linebacker Glenn Carson from Southern Regional High School in Manahawkin, N.J., and wide receiver Devon Smith from Westlake High in Waldorf, Md., have verbally committed to Penn State. They are the 17th and 18th commitments for the class of 2009.