Penn State running back Saquon Barkley wanted a chance to compete for a national championship.

TheWhitehall High School graduate and Nittany Lion sophomore won't get that chance this season as Penn State finished fifth in the final College Football Playoff rankings, just missing out on a playoff spot.But all is not lost for Penn State as it gets a chance to play against USC in the Rose Bowl at 5 p.m. Jan. 2"We felt that we deserved to compete for a national championship, and we felt that we are on that level, we're a caliber of team that can (compete for a national title)," Barkley said during the Penn State Bowl Media Day on Friday. "But like I said, we weren't fortunate enough to get in there, so you can't really worry or stress about something that you can't control. You can't focus on, 'we didn't make it to the playoffs so we've got to be upset,' we have to try to make a statement in the Rose Bowl.""We're going to take it as another game, treat it as another Super Bowl game for us and we just have to come out and execute," Barkley continued. "Like you said, USC has been really hot. I don't know how many they've won in a row but they've beaten teams like Washington and played teams like Stanford, they're a really good team over there, so we have to come prepared."Was Barkley disappointed not to be in the playoff?"I wouldn't say that it was a disappointment. Obviously we're all competitors in our locker room and you want to compete for a national championship, but you can only control what you can control," Barkley said. "We did what we were able to do, we won the Big Ten championship, and the committees felt that they made the right decision to put us at No. 5. So, we're fortunate enough to still play in the Rose Bowl and we've got to take advantage of the opportunity."The Rose Bowl is a matchup of two of the hottest teams in the country.Penn State has won nine straight games after a 2-2 start to the season.USC has won eight in a row after a 1-3 start."It's special. It's the Rose Bowl, you know, you've been watching it since you were a little kid; it's the Granddaddy of them all," Barkley said. "Being able to play in a Rose Bowl is spectacular. One of our goals was to win the Big Ten championship and play for a national championship, and we came short of that, but the Rose Bowl is not a bad second option to be honest."It will mark the end of a season that has put Penn State back into prominence in college football."I wouldn't really say that it changed significantly. But, you can tell it's different. It's Penn State football, Penn State football is becoming a winning football team again," Barkley said. "It's going back to the old tradition and that's what the school is used to, that's what this community is used to, and they're loving it, and we're loving it."