Will 2008 be Joe Paterno’s final year at Penn State? Or will the 81-year-old coach be strolling the Beaver Stadium sidelines for eons to come? JoePa cleared the air a bit by offering this confirmation:

“I DON’T KNOW!“

The HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEWS reports on Paterno’s proclamation to reporters during the Big Ten media day on Thursday. With rumors & speculations swirling over Joe’s employment status after this season, the coach finally set the record straight:

“I don’t know. I don’t know. How many times can I say it?” the 81-year-old Paterno said when asked about when he may leave.

We see. So, Joe, is this actually your final year?

“I can only say ‘I don’t know’ so many times. … I want to get out of it when I think it’s appropriate. … I’m having a lot of fun and I don’t want to get out of it (yet). I want to leave (the game} the way I’d like to leave it.”

It certainly would be a shame if Paterno bolted now, especially with new recruits breaking down doors to workout with the Lions.

MONDESI’S HOUSE passes along news of one inebriated Penn State student who decide to celebrate his 21st birthday by getting in some late night football practice:

At 3 a.m., Daniel Costenbader, a junior, scaled the fence of the football team’s practice field, stripped down to his boxers, started running laps and began striking the tackling dummies much like one of the school’s famed linebackers, court records show.

Once he was done on the field, the 21-year-old electrical engineering major hit the weight room, breaking in through a double-paned window on the side of the Lasch football building.

How drunk was Daniel? He even tried to walk away with the team’s Alamo Bowl trophy, the shining symbol of middle-of-the-pack Big Ten Conference excellence.

In all, Costenbader’s activities cost $5,000 in damage. He was charged with burglary, criminal trespassing, criminal mischief, theft, receiving stolen property and public drunkenness, and was released on $50,000 bail.

This guy sounds like a perfect fit for Paterno’s team.