While Saturday's college football slate is saturated with ranked games, Penn State will play a road game against Washington on FS1 that won't move the national needle. But it's still an important game for the NIttany Lions, who have their own postseason to consider.

The Nittany Lions have a manageable four-game schedule remaining, with the toughest likely being Saturday's visit to Washington. Penn State hasn't been there since 1921, when the team took a train cross-country to complete its second straight undefeated season.

But Penn State's future also is beginning to matter. The transfer portal opens in two months, and the Nittany Lions will have decisions to make and players to protect. So in this edition of the Penn State football mailbag, we're answering questions about the program's immediate and long-term futures. Also, what's the deal with those new T-shirts?

Question: What November expectations should we have for Penn State?

Penn State OC Taylor Mouser said the offense's performance vs. Purdue "meant everything."

"I would say that I was desperate. When you’re not winning here and you’re not living up to the standard, you feel like you’re letting a lot more people down..."

🎥Penn State Athletics pic.twitter.com/NPAe946kiO

— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) November 3, 2026

Note offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser's answer above when he was asked about scoring 31 points and rushing for 269 yards against Purdue. He was thrilled and relieved. This season still matters inside the building, as it should outside.

Penn State has played the toughest stretch of a schedule that now looks even more nine-win worthy. And the Nittany Lions are ranked higher than its four remaining opponents, according to ESPN's College Football Power Index.

Washington is the highest-ranked team on the list (48th), followed by Minnesota (58). Rutgers and Maryland are in the 80s. What might have been for Penn State had it held a 17-0 lead against Wisconsin.

These are four winnable games, particularly if the offense really has turned a corner. If/when Penn State gets receivers Koby Howard and Chase Sowell back together (probably not for the Washington game), the team will have something.

Despite being a 2.5-point home favorite, according to DraftKings, Washington has the nation's 135th-ranked rushing offense and is returning to a quarterback with a broken rib. Minnesota has lost two of three and visits Penn State after playing UCLA. Rutgers and Maryland aren't earning their conference media-rights revenue.

The Nittany Lions are capable of winning all four, but few trust them to do so. ESPN's FPI gives Penn State a 33.7-percent chance to win out. But if they do and finish the regular season 8-4, the Nittany Lions will prove they're listening to Campbell's "grow forward" speeches when no one else is.

Question: Who could enter the portal after the season?

There are two parallel tracks to follow when the portal opens Jan. 4: players leaving on their own and players being poached by bigger budgets. The latter will be more important.

Let's start in the secondary, where Penn State will be challenged to retain its cornerback group. Daryus Dixson, from California, has three seasons of eligibility remaining, as does Jahmir Joseph. Neither is an immediate threat to leave, but they will be expensive to retain, particularly Dixson. Freshman Josiah Zayas has passed several corners on the roster, so expect attrition at the position.

Lineabcker Tony Rojas has one year left, though he might be inclined to test the NFL draft after proving he's an even better player than he was before tearing an ACL. Sophomore defensive tackle Alexander McPherson, who played at IMG Academy and transferred from Colorado, will need a raise to stay as well.

Penn State's offensive backfield is going to change. James Peoples, who transferred from Ohio State to be the explosive back, has 12 carries for 36 yards in the past three games. He didn't play against Purdue, as Wallace won the job in practice.

Likewise, since his breakout game against Buffalo, Quinton Martin Jr. has 11 carries for 22 yards and didn't play against USC and Purdue. We expect movement there. And if Wallace closes strong, expect Campbell and general manager Derek Hoodjer to make a big retention offer.

We're also watching the quarterbacks, particularly Peyton Falzone, who has been playing tight end this season. If he wants to move to play quarterback full-time elsewhere, Falzone will have options.

Regarding the Iowa State transfers, we don't expect many of the high-profile players with eligibility to leave. They followed Campbell and his staff and are likely to stay. That includes left guard Trevor Buhr, tight ends Ben Brahmer and Cooper Alexander (who is injured) and running back Carson Hansen, who has one more year.

What's the deal with the T-shirts?

“OTO: Own The Outcome” new T-shirts for Penn State football players — a gift to the team, accompanied by a note, from PSU athletic director Pat Kraft pic.twitter.com/KuPENA8yhk

— Mike Poorman (@PSUPoorman) November 3, 2026

Brahmer and quarterback Rocco Becht wore T-shirts Tuesday that read, "OTO" an acronym for "Own the Outcome." They were a gift from Penn State Athletic Director Pat Kraft, designed by adidas, accompanied by a note in the players' lockers.

"It's kind of just owning the outcome and understanding that we've got to control what we can control," Brahmer said, "and to continue working as hard as we can in practice and on whatever happens to us on Saturdays."

Kraft is a motivational athletic director, so the sentiment isn't unexpected. It's also another T-shirt to add to the Penn State lexicon. In 2024, Penn State's NIL collective Happy Valley United printed shirts for the postseason that read LTFI, a phrase former coach James Franklin coined before the Big Ten title game.

Then last year, Penn State interim coach Terry Smith had shirts made for his team's game at Iowa that read "IF." Interpretations varied, but the shirt was a hit until the Nittany Lions lost when the Hawkeyes scored a late fourth-quarter touchdown.

Not sure how much of a value-add the latest shirts are, but the old-school Nittany Lion mascot is sweet.