The last thing Joe Paterno wishes to discuss is his legacy. He's more absorbed determining the defense to run against three wideouts or the play call for third-and-short.

Joe Paterno isn't now and never has been someone to look back, to take a cinemascope view of a lifetime of accomplishment from the mountaintop of 298 career coaching victories.

Tomorrow is the important day, in Paterno prerogative, not yesterday.

"Throughout my life, I have always had the ability to concentrate on what has to be done and not worry about things I can't do anything about," Joe Paterno has said.

"If I can do something about it, I go after it and try to get it done by giving my best shot. If I succeed, fine, but if I fail I put it behind me."

Joe Paterno's "best shot" has carried him over the doorstep to 300 coaching victories, a neighborhood with only three other major college coaches in residence, all legends of the game. Bear Bryant leads with 323 victories followed by Pop Warner with 319 and Amos Alonzo Stagg with 314.

The all-time leader in coaching victories is the legendary Eddie Robinson of Division I-AA Grambling, whose 54 years produced 405 triumphs.

A still-active Division III coach, John Gagliardi of St. John's (Minn.), has logged over 300 wins in 50 campaigns.

Joe Paterno already is the all-time leader in I-A victories at one school and trails only Stagg, who spent 41 years at Chicago, for coaching longevity at a single institution.

Paterno already has won more bowl games (19) than any coach in history. Penn State's 29th post-season appearance under Paterno in the Outback Bowl moved him into a tie with Bear Bryant, who guided teams to a record 29 bowl games in his career.

Joe Paterno, whose tenure at Penn State -- 16 years as an assistant and 33 as head coach -- spans the administrations of 10 U.S. Presidents, owns one of sport's most substantial resumes.