Penn State Football will begin their potential run at a national championship on Saturday afternoon when they host the ACC runner-up SMU Mustangs at Beaver Stadium.

Both programs are coming off conference championship game losses to Oregon and Clemson respectively but now, their seasons are on the line. The Nittany Lions at 11-2 will be making their long-awaited College Football Playoff debut. After seemingly routinely always being on the doorstep of the playoffs, the Nittany Lions begin their run as the tournament's No. 6 seed against the No. 11 seeded Mustangs.

"Obviously, it's going to be a challenge and we're looking forward to it and the guys have embraced it," Penn State head coach James Franklin said earlier this week. "And we're going to need this place rocking on Saturday. Obviously, a different situation at this time of the year and having a home game, which we appreciate. I think every program in the country was battling to either have a bye week in the playoffs to start the playoffs or a home game, and we were able to accomplish one of those two. So excited about the opportunity."

Happy Valley Insider below breaks down three keys for the Nittany Lions in their first-round matchup against SMU.