A case can be made that tonight marks the biggest regular-season game of James Franklin’s career and, ever the marketer, the Nittany Lions’ coach is calling in reinforcements.

He opened his first availability of the week Monday by challenging Penn State fans to stand throughout the White Out matchup with Oregon.

It’s the first such request from a Penn State coach in memory.

“Obviously, we need this place rocking,” he said. “Need to have a distinct home-field advantage. We always do, but I’m expecting this to be an environment like no one has ever seen. I’m challenging everybody … I know a good portion of our fans like to sit down except for third downs and red zone and what they consider critical times of the game.

“This is a four-quarter, one-play-at-a-time (game) that we need to be on our feet, screaming a collective battle cry in the stadium. So we’re going to need everybody’s help.”

To accomplish that, to get their older, between-the-40s’ fans up, the Lions must also do their part.

Which under Franklin, in the biggest moments, they have not.

Franklin’s 12-year Penn State tenure has produced only four wins vs. Top 10 teams in 24 tries, and here’s his latest opportunity to – finally – stamp his longstanding desire to make the Nittany Lions elite.

He’s proven his teams can be highly competitive when the stakes are high, but the Lions have had trouble finishing the job — be it after losing second-half leads against Ohio State multiple times, USC in the Rose Bowl or Notre Dame with a berth in the national championship game on the line last year.

You can do everything else right, and Franklin has, but he’s also paid handsomely – he’s in the midst of a 10-year, $85 million contract – to win more consistently against his peers.

He’s been dubbed Big Game James for a reason.

But he can begin to change that narrative tonight and this year as he unquestionably has an NFL roster, a friendly schedule and a stoked home crowd firing itself up as we speak.

Of the two teams, Oregon comes in better tested. While the Ducks have beaten Oklahoma State, Northwestern and Oregon State – not juggernauts but at least a rival or members of Power-4 conferences – the Lions have gone through the motions and shown almost nothing against Nevada, Florida International and Villanova.

Plus last week Penn State had a convenient bye to refine its plans.

Oregon, conversely, had no bye, flew across the country on Friday and, apparently seeking some karma, is staying in our fair city of Altoona.

Franklin acknowledged the Lions have played it close to the vest so far in anticipation of the Ducks and the Big Ten schedule, admitting – like anyone in his seat would – he’s been “saving things.”

“You’ve done some offseason studies where there are certain things you worked on during training camp that you’re planning on using against certain opponents,” he said.

Oregon qualifies as a “certain” opponent.

The Lions have also paced themselves relative to workload, developing reserves and morale while keeping their stars fresh.

“Specifically on the defensive side of the ball, we’ve been working hard to create depth,” Franklin said. “This isn’t one of those types of games. We need our best players playing as many reps as we possibly can.”

There will be the usual keys to big games – starting fast, limiting mistakes (turnovers and penalties), improving on third and fourth down on both sides of the ball and capitalizing on matchups and opportunities.

And just as Franklin hasn’t been at his best and his team hasn’t been as loose as necessary when the lights are brightest, neither has his three-year starting quarterback, Drew Allar, who is 0-5 vs. Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon and ND.

Further, that Allar has been less than overwhelming so far this year, despite three transfer receivers, has caused some to miss Beau Pribula.

The coach and the quarterback typically get most of the credit and blame for success and failure, and this is definitely a legacy game for both Franklin and Allar.

Regardless of the outcome, there is plenty of season left but no more opportunity games of this magnitude – especially at home.

A win would oil up the wheels of the creaky wheels of Penn State’s old national championship bandwagon while a loss would darken the cloud on Franklin’s reputation and, worse, practically turn the Nits’ Nov. 1 trip to Columbus into a must win to make the College Football Playoff.

Before a one-of-a-kind backdrop, Penn State has everything going in its favor to deliver its best performance and bring Beaver Stadium to its feet.

Neil Rudel covers Penn State football andcan be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.