For those of you who don't know, Penn State coach James Franklin has a weekly press conference every Tuesday during the season to discuss the Nittany Lions' upcoming opponent.

This is how Franklin started Tuesday's presser."I'd like to start by thanking everybody for being here. I'm in a great mood. The weather is beautiful coming over here. I'm in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, I'm the head football coach at Penn State University, and I work with a group of young men that are unbelievable and have a staff that's awesome."So, I'm in a great mood. Excited about getting out to practice today and getting better and continuing to work with these guys. We've got a tremendous opportunity. Myself, the staff, the players are more determined and more optimistic than we've ever been."Penn State is 4-4, after losing four straight games in which they had a realistic chance to win three of them. The only game that the Nittany Lions didn't have a prayer winning, believe it or not, was the Northwestern game where they lost 29-6. That was by far their worst performance of the season and it showed in the final score.Franklin's sunshine and rainbows approach could be taken two ways by Penn State faithful. One way is that Franklin needs to toughen up on his ballclub and set a fire underneath a Penn State offense that has just been dismal over the past four contests. The second way is that Franklin is trying to motivate by being positive and not getting down on how the Nittany Lions have been performing. It's obvious PSU is short-handed and Franklin knows that, so he's just trying to keep his guys from getting frustrated and negative.Either way you take Franklin's positive approach, one thing is for sure and that is Penn State needs some "W's" in the upcoming weeks, especially if they want to qualify for a bowl game.On the field and on the sidelines last week it was evident that Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg was frustrated. The offensive line did not protect well once again, its running game was non-existent, and there seemed to be some communication problems between "Hack" and the receivers. Hackenberg is a high-profile quarterback not just at Penn State, but nationally, so obviously when things don't go right the cameras will follow him as he goes to the bench. Simply put, the sophomore was frustrated and it poured over to the sidelines on numerous occasions and the cameras caught it.This is something that Hackenberg needs to realize and realize quickly. When you're the general of an offense, your troops will respond to your demeanor and your body language. Everyone knows it hasn't been easy for the Penn State "O" this season and of course emotions will sometimes get the best of you, but Hackenberg needs to learn from the Maryland game and try to stay more positive throughout the ball game. It's not easy, but when you're a Division One quarterback at a school with over 100,000 fans at every home game that's on national TV every week you have to do it. You didn't sign up for easy.With that being said, despite Hackenberg's frustration last week, Franklin stated that the sophomore is indeed in good spirits."We had a meeting yesterday. Had a really good meeting, discussed a wide variety of topics. It's been a transition. I mean, it's been a transition for him, really, from the last couple of years through the recruiting process and everything. I think he's handling it well. There are areas that I think he can handle better, and we discussed those honestly in both directions. But I think we're in a really good place."The Penn State offense has the opportunity this week to get things turned around as they take on an Indiana defense (12 p.m. ET, BTN) that has not played well this season. The Hoosiers (3-5, 0-4 Big Ten) defense is giving up 446 yards of total offense, including 275 yards passing per game. This is a week where Hackenberg could gain some of his confidence back, but once again it all depends on if the offensive line can play better. Without a run game it's just too easy to key on the passing game. You're not going to lure safeties into the box, which means teams can just blitz their linebackers and still match up well in the secondary. That is pretty much what every team is going to do from here on out unless the Nittany Lions can gain some yards on the ground.An observation that I made throughout the season is that when the Penn State offense is in hurry-up or no-huddle mode they move the ball with a lot more success. "Hack" seems to also perform the best when they're in the no-huddle offense. He moves well in the pocket, he makes quick decisions, and he's accurate. I just think there's less time for the defense to set up and therefore they can't bring as much pressure.On Penn State's lone touchdown drive of the day against the Terrapins, they drove the ball 51 yards in 2:55 on eight plays. I think that's the successful recipe for this offense and it will be interesting to see if Franklin takes a more up-tempo approach this week.The biggest match-up in the game between the Nittany Lions and Hoosiers looks to be between the Penn State rush defense and Indiana running back Tevin Murray. Murray has been tearing it up this season, rushing for 1,300 yards and 11 touchdowns. He's averaging an amazing eight yards per carry.The Nittany Lions "D" has been great against the run this season. They're giving up just 2.3 yards per carry, which ranks first nationally. They've been very impressive and have kept the Nittany Lions in many games this season. The Penn State defense will undoubtedly get a heavy dose of the run as the Indiana passing game has been pretty challenged since talented signal caller Nate Sudfield went down with a separated non-throwing shoulder in mid-October. It's a match-up that will certainly have an impact of who wins this one.According to Las Vegas odds makers, Penn State is a six-point favorite. My pick is Penn State 23, Indiana 14.