It's Ohio State's biggest game of the season, but nothing surrounding the No. 5 Buckeyes have really changed ahead of its date with No. 20 Penn State Saturday night.

Here are three things we learned about Ohio State this week, two questions and one prediction ahead of its primetime matchup against the Nittany Lions.

1. This is just another week for Ohio State

Junior offensive lineman Matthew Jones knows this is a big game for Ohio State. He knows there's something to prove at home against historically one of the bigger teams in the Big Ten East.

So does practice change? Is the mentality different heading into a game like this, especially after the dominance the Buckeyes have shown over the past four weeks? Jones doesn't think so.

"We don't take no team for granted," Jones said. "We all communicate as one. That's one thing we do well: communication, especially as an O-line. It's the same."

The offensive guard and backup center said he's seen what's happened across college football, where "great teams," slip up.

Jones knows that Ohio State is a great team that can't afford a slip up, already recording one loss this season at home against Oregon.

"We just have to take every team like it's out last game or a big opponent," Jones said.

It's a team, senior tight end Jeremy Ruckert said Tuesday, that beings the same mindset each week of, "this opponent is going to take us out," bringing a renewed sense of focus each time the Buckeyes take the field.

To make that happen, sophomore linebacker Tommy Eichenberg said, the Ohio State locker room needs to drown out the outside noise and focus within.

"We don't listen to what anyone says, we don't care what anyone says," Eichenberg said. "We just practice really hard every single day."

2. The Buckeyes' confident offense is ready for its latest test

Sophomore Jaxon Smith-Njigba feels consistency is on the side of the Ohio State offense right now.

The Buckeyes come into its final regular-season game in October leading the country with 559.7 yards per game, and 49.3 points per game, one of two teams, along with Coastal Carolina, to average more than eight yards per play.

A new challenge awaits Ohio State, facing Penn State: the No. 6 scoring defense in the country — a unit that has allowed 14.7 points per game and is one of two teams in college football, along with Georgia, that has allowed less than 10 touchdowns this season.

But Smith-Njigba is ready for the challenge, excited for the matchup between Ohio State's top-ranked offense against Penn State's top-10 defense.

"We know that they are a good defense and we respect them a lot," he said. "We're just going to go out there and prove what we always try and prove every week: that we're the best offense in the country."

The sophomore receiver sees "one of the best secondaries we're going to see." To prepare for a group that he knows will be physical at the line of scrimmage, Smith-Njigba said he simply has to go hard in practice against the Ohio State secondary.

Jones has a similar mindset on the offensive line. Going up a group that's fast, the junior said it's important to work on technique and footwork to stop certain things in practice before the game Saturday.

3. Smith-Njigba has found comfort with C.J. Stroud

You could see it on the throw that everyone's talking about after the Indiana game: the throw in the first play of Ohio State's second drive where redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud, with a clean pocket, found Smith-Njigba in stride on a rope into triple coverage.

It was a look that the sophomore receiver and his quarterback has practiced over and over, but a look he didn't realize was as good as it was until he saw the replay.

"I wasn't surprised that he threw it because in that look, I knew the ball was going to come to me," Smith-Njigba said. "I just didn't know there were so many people around me at the time. And he made a great throw."

Many of Stroud's highlight moments have come from passing to Smith-Njigba, probably stemming from the relationship the two built last year.

Both came in in the 2020 class, repping together on the second-team in practice or by themselves. the wide receiver sees a relationship that's blooming because of the hard work of their first years in the program.

"Me and C.J., we just have a connection and try and connect on every play," Smith-Njigba said. "We came in together, we got a lot of reps together, so now it's just paying off. Hopefully we can just keep it going."

Ohio State may have seen a preview of what its offense would look like next year against Indiana, putting Stroud in with the second-team offense, allowing him to work with Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka.

1. How will Stroud respond to the test?

This is a new defense, but let's look back at how past Ohio State quarterbacks have performed against Penn State.

Since 2017, during the Buckeyes' four-game win streak against the Nittany Lions, Ohio State quarterbacks — J.T. Barrett, Dwayne Haskins and Justin Fields, twice — have thrown 13 touchdowns compared to one interception, completing 73.9% percent of passes.

This looks a lot like Stroud's last four games.

This season, Penn State has allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete only 55.6% of passes for an average of 178 passing yards per game with only four passing touchdowns allowed all season.

So which Stroud will we see Saturday night?

No matter the defense he's faced over the past four games, the redshirt freshman has been steady: confident and cool in the pocket, unafraid of contact waiting for receivers to get open, consistently moving the ball whether it's down field or threw check downs.

He's just utilizing the weapons he's given and what the defense gives him. It will be interesting to see if that continues against Penn State.

2. Will the defensive line continue to bring the pressure it needs to shut down Penn State's offense ?

In the words of Ohio State defensive end Tyreke Smith, the pressures have started to turn into sacks.

After recording 14 sacks in their first five games, the Buckeyes have recorded 10 sacks in the past two weeks, catapulting themselves to No. 2 in the conference. behind Michigan State through seven games.

But it's not only sacks. Ohio State has recorded 23 tackles-for-loss against Maryland and Indiana combined.

This will be key for Ohio State's defensive success against Penn State, facing an offensive line that has allowed 13 sacks and 84 yards lost through its first seven games.

If Ohio State can provide pressure on quarterback Sean Clifford or whichever quarterback will be behind center Saturday night, likely it will lead to the same results the defense has seen in the past four games: rushed throws of a one-dimensional offense that leads to mistakes and good field position the the Buckeye offense.

Ohio State will score the most points Penn State has allowed all season

Yes, this will be the best defense Ohio State has faced all season. However, Penn State has not seen an offense like this either.

And it's an offense that seemingly no one can stop.

The Buckeyes have recorded 50 points or more in its last four games, averaging 575 yards of offense in each of those wins against Akron, Rutgers, Maryland and Indiana.

Penn State has not allowed more than 23 points all season, a game in which the Nittany Lions defense allowed only two touchdowns and 305 yards of offense to Iowa in a three-point loss.

With the way Stroud's been leading this offense, with the way freshman running back TreVeyon Henderson has been utilized in both the ground game and the pass game, expect Penn State's season high in terms of points and yards allowed to shoot up.