TAMPA, Fla. — To Penn State fans, Monday's Outback Bowl is a chance to spend a holiday week in pristine Florida weather. To head coach Joe Paterno, it's a chance to return to the sideline — on both feet — and do what he loves too much to give up.

To the Nittany Lions, it's a chance to prove not only what the current team is capable of, but also make a statement about where the overall program stands.

"We're trying to find out a little bit more about ourselves," Paterno said Thursday. "Just how good are we?"

Penn State (8-4) lost each of its four games against ranked teams during the regular season. Tennessee, the nation's 17th-ranked team and the one that will meet Penn State at 11 a.m. Monday in Raymond James Stadium, provides the Lions a fifth and final opportunity to put an exclamation point on a season filled with incomplete sentences.

"Everybody keeps saying we can't beat a ranked team," Penn State center A.Q. Shipley said. "They're No. 17 in the country, they're a proven team playing in the SEC against tough opponents, and to be able to beat a team like that at the end of the year, it should give us some respect."

The Vols (9-3) are 2-3 against ranked teams this season. A year ago, Tennessee went 5-6 and missed the postseason for the first time in 14 years under coach Phillip Fulmer.

"From where we came from," Fulmer said Thursday, "I would already review this season as a good season."

Quarterback Erik Ainge and wide receiver Robert Meachem alone make Tennessee one of the nation's most dangerous teams, but the Vols boast athleticism across the board and have played through a series of key injuries.

"When you look at this particular Tennessee team," Paterno said, "they can play anybody, any place, any time."

Last year, Penn State bounced back from four losing seasons in five years to go 11-1 and reclaim, at least temporarily, its place among the nation's elite. This year's team had hopes of similar glory but stumbled at Notre Dame in the season's second week, missed a great chance to steal a win at No. 1 Ohio State two weeks later and couldn't muster enough offense to knock off Michigan and Wisconsin. None of Penn State's eight wins provided enough reason for fans to thump their blue-painted chests.

"The seniors definitely heard a lot of talk this year about no signature wins or just not winning any games that really matter," said punter Jeremy Kapinos. "Playing a team like Tennessee and being down here and having the national spotlight, we can definitely cement our legacy here. Last year we had Mike Rob (Michael Robinson) and AZ (Alan Zemaitis) and all those guys who brought this program back where we needed to be. So I think we can just help maintain that and set the tone for next year."

This year's senior class, led by captains Paul Posluszny and Levi Brown, wants to be remembered in a similar light. Monday's outcome could go a long way in deciding that.

"We want to get a win for that simple fact that this is the last taste we're going to have. We want it to be a good one," said defensive end Tim Shaw. "The legacy we want to leave is this team is on the up and up, the program is where it needs to be, next year is gonna be an even better year. That's how we want to leave it. We want to leave it looking back that next year is going to be a great year for Penn State, and the years following."