James Sheep controls 100,000 people with a flick of his hands. On a swing of his arms, he brings the crowd to a deafening scream, each note reverberating against the walls of Beaver Stadium, rising to fever pitch. It’s just another normal Saturday for Penn State’s Nittany Lion.

Sheep is a member of a select group of students across the country who take on alternate identities every Saturday in order to become their school’s number one fan.

“A mascot’s job is to be the most pumped-up fan at the game. You want to get the crowd into the game and out of their seats,” says Josh Stern, one of four Scarlet Knights of Rutgers University.

From the leprechaun at Notre Dame, to the Florida Gator, to Traveler, the white horse at USC, college mascots can be the most recognizable part of an athletic program.

Mascot programs are different at each university, however. Some require extensive tryouts and come with hefty stipends, while others are acquired through different means. At Penn State University, applicants are required to complete a written application and an interview with about 13 judges.

“Picture ‘The Apprentice,’ where a bunch of judges sit at a long table in the middle of the room,” Sheep says.

After this round of cuts, applicants move to the physical stage of the tryout, where they must do 50 one-arm pushups, a trademark of the Nittany Lion, as well as 30 seconds of improv with a prop. The last stage is where prospective Nittany Lions create their own two-minute skit, where they must cut their own music, make their own props, and demonstrate crowd control. After the entire process, one person is picked to serve as the Nittany Lion. The position does however come with a nice reward—free tuition.

For Andrew Lockwood of Mercer University, who plays Toby the Bear, the process wasn’t nearly as complicated. “I approached the athletic office about doing play-by-play and broadcasting, but there wasn’t a position open. The guy who played the mascot had graduated the year before, and they offered me the opportunity to do it. I had thought about doing it in high school but never got a chance. It was something I never thought I’d get the opportunity to do,” Lockwood says.

The job of a college mascot, who is usually required to perform at all football and basketball games, is to be the team’s number one fan. “It’s mainly crowd involvement. Knowing how people will react to you is a big part of it,” Lockwood says. “There’s certain people you can go up and do things with. Little kids love you, and it’s always pretty safe to hang around the student section.”

But mascot’s responsibilities go far beyond basketball and football games. As the Nittany Lion, Sheep is required to attend about 400 events per year, including alumni functions, charity events, tailgates, nursing homes, and other athletic events.

“You have to sacrifice a social life, and it’s wise to take only 12 or 13 credits, but you get to travel a lot. It’s a unique experience that no one at the university has,” says Sheep.

Division I college mascots have become big business in the past five years, according to Erin Drew, the creator of mascot.net. “The college mascot scene is really evolving into a profession. The mascot performers that come out of there can sit down with an NFL team and say that they helped generate half a million dollars in sponsorships,” Drew says.