TIM WEIGHT/Special to the Sun-Gazette Penn State interim coach Terry Smith coaches during Saturday’s game against Nebraska at Beaver Stadium.

STATE COLLEGE — Terry Smith’s popularity has grown to the point where he can’t even go get his car washed in State College any longer without being recognized.

It’s clear there are many that hope the interim tag is dropped and he is named the next head coach to lead Penn State football.

“The way he handles his business and the way he leads us, I believe he should be the coach next year,” PSU running back Kaytron Allen said. “He deserves it.”

On the NBC telecast Saturday night during Penn State’s 37-10 win over Nebraska, Penn State letterman Michael Robinson expressed strong support for Smith to be the next coach. He said he has talked to many other lettermen who feel the same way.

“I’m very motivated by the support,” Smith said. “My players love me unconditionally. I love them unconditionally. Their support means everything to me.”

Fans chanting “Ter-ry” were very loud in the fourth quarter.

They were also pretty loud for Penn State’s entrance into the stadium when Smith had his granddaughter with him.

“How would you feel? It’s amazing,” he said. “She experienced something very few people get the opportunity to experience.”

Nebraska coach Matt Rhule gave Smith his foot in the door in the college game after Smith was the head coach at Gateway High School in Monroeville for 12 seasons.

Rhule hired Smith to be his wide receivers coach at Temple in 2013, and he has picked up on Smith’s emergence as the top choice for the Penn State job.

“(The team) has certainly rallied around him,” Rhule said.

Smith probably won even more points with the fan base when he wore a Joe Paterno pin on his Penn State jacket on Saturday night.

But is Smith ready to be a permanent head coach for the first time at the college level? He seems to think so.

“I was always ready to be a head coach,” Smith said. “I was a head coach for 12 years in high school. It’s a different level, but leading men is leading men. Coaching is coaching.

“I’m a leader of men. You’re witnessing it every day.”