The last thing Joe Paterno wanted was an entire day sitting in a hospital during prime recruiting and fundraising season.

But that's what the 81-year-old head coach at Penn State was forced to do Thursday.

A hectic travel and work schedule -- even for someone decades younger -- apparently took too much out of him. He was transported by ambulance to Mount Nittany Medical Center on Thursday morning after complaining of nausea, weakness and fatigue, said Penn State spokesman, Guido D'Elia.

He underwent a series of precautionary tests, including tests on his heart, but doctors reported that he was suffering only from dehydration, D'Elia said.

Meanwhile, Nittany Lion supporters buzzed about the possibilities as word of the hospital trip leaked out across the state.

"He's mad. Anything that gets in the way of getting things done, he's not happy with," D'Elia said. "He's never a good patient when it comes to these things."

Doctors suggested Paterno consider staying overnight for observation, but he would have none of it, D'Elia said.

And so Paterno is planning to keep his arrangements to fly to Austin, Texas,

today to join athletic director Tim Curley for a function to honor University of Texas head coach Mack Brown.

"If it was me, I would be saying, 'See you in the office on Monday,'" D'Elia said with a laugh.

Certainly, it has been a busy time -- even though the season is still more than three months away.

Paterno was in the Philadelphia area

last weekend for alumni speaking engagements, flew home late Saturday night, met high-school recruits Sunday and flew to Chicago for Big Ten coaching meetings Monday afternoon.

He returned home late Wednesday evening and started Thursday by talking on the phone with two recruits -- including high-profile Scranton offensive lineman Eric Shrive -- who had just given Penn State verbal commitments.

Paterno was then taken to the hospital, accompanied by his wife, Sue, sometime Thursday morning. He was officially released about 6:30 p.m. that evening.

"He wears himself out, and May is a really big month," D'Elia said.

"He's jacked up about how (well) recruiting is going. . . . He's fired up. He's finally really feeling full strength after his leg injury (in 2006), but, unfortunately, he's still got to figure out his limits."

Jay Paterno, his son and quarterbacks coach, said the incident was so minor that no one in his family bothered to call him right away. Jay is recruiting in western Ohio.

A reporter let him know about his father with a text message.

"I asked my sister if I should come home and she said, 'He got a little dehydrated and is going to get out a little later today. It's no big deal. Stay out and keep working because he won't even be here when you get home (because of his trip to Texas).'"

"With all of the (recruiting) commitments we've gotten in the past few days, no wonder he's dehydrated," Jay Paterno said with a laugh.

His dad will have to work some rest into his schedule, though it won't be easy. He plans to be in Philadelphia again on Tuesday and in Pittsburgh next weekend.

There does appear to be merit, though, in fans' growing worry over Paterno's age and health.

In 2006, he was forced to leave the Ohio State game with a stomach virus, he suffered cracked ribs when a player ran into him in practice and he broke his leg and tore up his knee when an opposing player accidentally crashed into him on the sideline at Wisconsin.

Even this past January, Paterno was homebound for a couple of weeks with the flu after his team's bowl victory in San Antonio.

And, to add to the intrigue, his contract expires after the 2008 season, though both he and school officials have brushed away the significance of that. Both sides have apparently agreed to discuss his future at the end of the season, as usual.

University president Graham Spanier, however, has made it clear that there would be no more long-term contracts for Paterno.