At Fordham, they are not surprised.

“It all looks very, very similar,” said Rams head coach Andrew Breiner.

“That’s Joe’s offense,” said former Rams quarterback Mike Nebrich. “That’s what he does.”

The rapidly rising prowess of the Penn State offense might be raising eyebrows around the Big Ten and much of college football, but on the Bronx campus of an FCS school it’s more like knowing smiles.

Joe Moorhead’s offense is rolling. Just the way it did when he was the head coach at Fordham from 2012-15.

When Penn State coach James Franklin announced his new offensive coordinator last December, a guy from the Patriot League wasn’t exactly a splashy hire. The Fordham coach was going to install a new spread offense, indoctrinate an inexperienced quarterback, outwit the sharp minds and outflank the gifted athletes in the Big Ten East?

View photos Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead and quarterback Trace McSorley have been a good fit. (Getty) More

Heading into his third year and feeling the heat after two seasons of mediocrity, Franklin needed to find his Lane Kiffin, his Lincoln Riley, his rock-star play caller. Instead he brought in Joe the Yinzer, a Pittsburgh native whose playing career consisted of four years quarterbacking at Fordham and one with the Munich Cowboys. He brought in a guy who had spent the last four years scheming to beat Holy Cross, not Ohio State.

And it’s all worked out splendidly.

A year after losing the most prolific passer in school history, Penn State is averaging its most points per game (36.6) in eight seasons. Over the last five games, that scoring average is 46.4. The Nittany Lions have hung more points on Indiana (45), Iowa (41) and Purdue (62) than any other team in 2016. The new quarterback, Trace McSorley, leads the nation in yards per completion (16.2) and has thrown just two interceptions since September.

Now everybody knows what they already knew in the Bronx. The Fordham coach is good. Big Ten-level good.

“I’m not surprised he was able to do it this quick,” said Fordham sports information director Joe DiBari. “He can push that pedal.”

To the metal. And now the rubber will meet the road Saturday in a classic clash of Penn State’s potent offense against Wisconsin’s vicious defense in the Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis.

Moorhead’s immediate success in State College has done more than just validate his own hiring – it has shed favorable light on coaches from lower levels of college football. Not every big-program hire has to be a guy from another big program.

“I think there was a little bit of, ‘Who is this guy?’ ” Breiner said of the Penn State fan and media reaction to the hiring of his old boss. “For some people it was wait-and-see. I think he’s gone on to make believers out of them.”

Most importantly, Moorhead has made believers out of the players in the locker room. Big Ten Network analyst Gerry DiNardo said he watched film this week with McSorley, and the quarterback repeatedly referenced things Moorhead had told him. McSorley was basically an extension of his coordinator.

McSorley was a three-star recruit out of Virginia who had plenty of scholarship offers from Power Five schools – but none from the Power Five powers. After backing up five-star Christian Hackenberg for two seasons, McSorley wasn’t even a sure thing to start this season – he was locked in a position battle with Tommy Stevens until late August.

View photos Joe Moorhead was 38-13 in four seasons at Fordham. (AP) More

Story continues