Persa's brain, sense of humor doing well

After taking two blows to the helmet on a fourth-quarter sweep Saturday at Indiana, woozy Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa was asked to recite the months backward in order to gauge the trauma to his brain.

“I don't know if I could do that now,” Persa joked Monday.

Not only has Persa's sense of humor returned intact after Saturday's hit which knocked him out for the final 8:53 of NU's 20-17 win more recent and comprehensive tests indicate the rest of his brain works normally.

If Persa doesn't relapse, then he should be working on the practice field Wednesday and starting Saturday when the Wildcats return to his home state to face Penn State (2:30 p.m., Channel 7).

“He's following our postconcussion protocol,” said Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald. “(Sunday) he reported back to our trainers symptom-free, which then got him on his clock to get back to practice full.

“He had the day off (Sunday). He exercised (Monday) morning, felt great after that. He'll do his IMPACT test a little bit later on, which we anticipate being clear.”

That allows Persa to participate in Tuesday's practice without contact, which leads to working in Wednesday's practice as usual.

“I'm good,” Persa said. “I just got hit in the back of the head. I'm good.”

And he's apparently already keyed up for his first visit to Beaver Stadium since he went to games on an annual basis growing up in Bethlehem, Pa., located three hours east of Penn State.

When Fitzgerald met with the members of NU's Leadership Council, he asked Persa whether he should start backup Evan Watkins to avoid having a quarterback who's too pumped up to execute the plan.

“He kind of looked at me like he wanted to fight,” Fitzgerald said. “I backed away.”

Persa doesn't admit to the same level of animosity toward Joe Paterno and Penn State, even though the Nittany Lions never recruited him beyond a few form letters.

This despite that Persa won an award his senior year as the best high school player in the tri-state area (Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware).

He also became the first player in Pennsylvania to throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in the same season.

“I obviously grew up rooting for them just because my mom and my sister (are Penn State graduates), and from going to a lot of games,” Persa said.

Now he returns home as the only player in the Football Bowl Subdivision who ranks among the top 12 in passing efficiency (162.7 rating) and total offense (302.8 ypg).

“Maybe a little bit,” Persa said when asked whether he was surprised at Penn State's lack of interest. “You can't really control that stuff, so I wasn't really worried about it.

“Recruiting's recruiting. You kind of try to take the personal stuff out of it and look for the best fit for yourself.”

Clearly Northwestern has been that for the redshirt junior.

“We talk quite a bit and he's having the time of his life,” Fitzgerald said. “There's no doubt about that.”