In his three years playing for Penn, senior running back Sam Mathews has won 23 games and lost just six.
That record is topped by linebacker Ric San Doval's, who has seen his four years of Quakers teams -- San Doval began in 2001 and sat out last year with an injury -- go 32-6 overall and 23-4 in Ancient Eight play.
Yet there is currently a sour taste in the mouths of these two seniors -- along with the rest of their classmates and the entire team.
Penn (5-4, 3-3 Ivy) heads into tomorrow's finale against Cornell (5-4, 3-3) on a three-game losing streak that derailed its hopes for another Ivy League title -- what would have been the third in four years for the Class of 2006.
That will not stop the seniors from making sure that their final game for the Red and Blue is a success.
However, Penn will have to contend with a Big Red offense that is the best it has been in recent years.
It is anchored by a two-pronged rushing attack led by senior quarterback Ryan Kuhn and sophomore running back Luke Siwula.
Kuhn has run for 903 yards so far this year, a single-season record for Cornell quarterbacks.
Siwula, meanwhile, has rushed for 1,002 yards, and has already run for 65 more yards on his own than the entire Big Red team did last year.
In total, Cornell has run for 255.6 yards a game this season, compared to 93.7 last year.
To counteract that, the Quakers will have to play defense as if Cornell was an option team, or in San Doval's words, the Quakers will have to play "assignment defense."
Instead of getting a gap or an area, the Penn defenders will have people to guard, like a man-to-man defense in basketball.
"They schematically cause us some problems," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said.
The coach, stuck for three weeks on 99 career wins at Penn, said that while he is willing to accept Cornell's eating up yards on offense, he does not want them to have any big plays.
But despite Penn's deep respect for the Cornell offense, Big Red coach Jim Knowles still realizes that running all over the Quakers may not be the proverbial walk in the park -- regardless of how Penn's defense has played recently.
"Penn still, despite the last couple of weeks, has one of the best run defenses in the country, and we have one of the best run offenses," Knowles said. "So you're talking about two heavyweights really going at it, and if we're going to win the game we'll have to succeed in that area."
On offense, Bagnoli, Mathews and senior quarterback Pat McDermott stressed that it was important to get out to a good start -- one longer than just one drive.
Last week against Harvard, Penn scored a field goal on its opening drive but failed to put any more points up on the board.
A big key will be moving the ball well on first and second downs to avoid predictable third-down situations.
Bagnoli said that McDermott is probably not 100 percent healthy, after injuring his nonthrowing shoulder against Yale a month ago, but is the best he can expect from the position.
McDermott, on the other hand, said that he feels "fine."
And Knowles is wary of his defense's own ability to give up the home-run play.
"We've always managed to give up a big play, and that's hurt us," he said.
Despite the recent struggles, Penn has ratcheted up the intensity in practice this week, trying to make sure to end the funk in time to both send the seniors out on top and set a positive tone for next season.
Bagnoli even brought in an outside speaker to talk about focus yesterday.
And the Quakers do not want to lose.
"Everyone's really working hard," Mathews said. "The intensity has been up."
"I'm just hoping there's a little more bounce in their step," Bagnoli said. "We'd like very much for those kids to go out in the proper style."
Meanwhile, Penn has beaten Cornell five straight times, and Knowles knows the importance of the game.
"The last time Cornell went down to Penn it was a terrible performance, and it led to a change of staff," he said. "Our seniors were there two years ago, and they would like to have this game."
Penn's 59-7 rout in 2003 led to the firing of Tim Pendergast and Knowles' hiring.
Last year, the Quakers won a wild 20-14 game in Ithaca, N.Y., to keep the streak alive.
A win tomorrow will also mean six straight years of Penn finishing over .500. McDermott, for one, believes that Penn should keep that trend going.
"We're not a 5-5 football team," he said. "6-4 is a lot better."
