Philadelphia Two years ago, Penn kicked Harvard-literally.

A year ago, Harvard kicked Penn-figuratively.

Today the Ivy League's newest and fiercest rivalry continues with each squad hoping to kick the other out of the race for the 1984 Ancient Eight football title.

More than 40,000 are expected at Penn's Franklin Field as the league's only two unbeaten teams battle for their third straight Ivy crown.

The winner of the showdown that brings together the two-time defending Ivy co-champions will assure itself of not only a piece of the 1984 Ivy crown, but also a piece of league history.

For the victor of the 1 p.m. showdown-to be televised locally on WGBH channel 2 automatically will become only the second squad in Ivy history to cop three straight titles.

But there's more on the line today than just the Ivy crown, because Harvard's out to avenge what happened the last time these teams met here.

That was two years ago, when 40,000 fans witnessed Harvard storm back from a 20-0 deficit with 21 fourth quarter points and appear to come away with an Ivy championship victory.

But a roughing-the-kicker penalty with no time on the clock gave Penn kicker Dave Shulman a second chance--after he'd just missed what would have been a game winning field goal. When he connected the second time around. Penn had a 23-21 championship miracle and Harvard had one of its most heart breaking losses ever.

"I swore coming off the field list time. I'd come back two years ago and make up for it," says Harvard senior tackle Roger Caron, one of only four Crimson players who were there two years ago and will be bad today.

Caron & Co. made up for a somewhat last year with a 280 thrashing of the Quakers at the Stadium, but still have a score to settle.

Despite the fact that both squads enter the showdown sporting equally perfect 5-0 Ivy marks, Penn is clearly the favorite because of its superb play this year and home field advantage.

The Quakers (6-1 overall) have piled up the most points and the most yardage in league history en route to becoming the Ivy's top offense.

Senior quarterback John McGeehan leads the most balanced attack the Crimson has seen in a while. He runs and throws with the skill of a top level signal caller and directs an attack that has made a habit of jumping out to big leads and then holding on for impressive victories.

Sophomore Rich Comizio is the Quakers' leading rusher, and that's not bad for someone who wasn't even on the Pennsylvania depth chart at season's start.