Final Facts From the Field…

*–Notre Dame now leads the all-time series with Pittsburgh39-16-1. The Irish have won seven straight in the series since a30-22 loss at Pittsburgh in 1987.

*– Lou Holtz, in his 11th season at Notre Dame, is now99-29-2 (.769) at Notre Dame. His 99 wins place him second onNotre Dame’s all-time coaching list, behind Knute Rockne’s 105wins. Holtz has a 27-year career record of 215-94-7 (.691).

*– Allen Rossum set a Notre Dame record for most kickreturns for touchdowns in a season. His 55-yard and 83-yard puntreturns for touchdowns against Pittsburgh, combined with his57-yard punt return for a touchdown against Air Force and99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Purdue give himfour kick return TDs in 1996, breaking the previous record ofthree held by Raghib Ismail (1 PR, 2 PR in 1989), Tim Brown (3PR in 1987) and Nick Rassas (3 PR in 1965).

*– Rossum tied a school record with two punt returns fortouchdowns in a game. Tim Brown returned two against MichiganState in 1987 and Vince McNally had two against Beloit in 1926.

*– In his career, Rossum has now returned three punts fortouchdowns (all in 1996), a kickoff for touchdown (99 yards vs.Purdue, 1996) and two interceptions for touchdowns (76 yards vs.Washington, 1995 and 29 yards vs. Texas, 1995).

*– Rossum’s 83-yard punt return was Notre Dame’s eighthlongest in school history and the longest since Ricky Watterswent 97 yards against SMU in 1989.

*– Notre Dame’s 231 punt return yards in a game breaks theprevious record of 225 versus Beloit in 1926.

*– Notre Dame’s 40 second-quarter points are the most everfor the Irish in a second quarter, breaking the previous recordof 35 set against Indiana in 1951 and SMU in 1989. The 40 pointsis also the second-most points ever in a quarter for Notre Dame.The Irish scored 42 points against St. Viator in 1912.

*– Notre Dame scored six touchdowns in an 11:11 span duringthe second quarter.

*– Rossum is the first Notre Dame player to return twokicks (punt or kickoff) for a touchdown since 1989 when Ismailreturned two kickoffs against Michigan.

*– Notre Dame entered today’s game with one punt return fora touchdown, and with the three second-quarter punt returns fortouchdowns today, now has broken the Notre Dame single-seasonrecord of three set in 1926, 1965 and 1987.

*– Pittsburgh’s touchdown with 14:53 left in the fourthquarter snapped a 113:53 scoreless streak against Notre Dame.Since scoring a touchdown with 8:46 left in the game in NotreDame’s 52-21 win over Pittsburgh in 1992, the Panthers were shutout 44-0 in 1993 and were held without a point in the first45:07 of today’s game.

*– Notre Dame amassed over 500 yards of offense for thesecond consecutive week and for the third time in 1996. TheIrish gained 544 yards a week ago against Boston College and 650yards against Washington.

*– Notre Dame’s 60 points are the most since 1986 in NotreDame’s 61-14 win over SMU and the 54-point margin of victory isthe largest since a 69-14 win over Georgia Tech in 1977.

*– Robert Farmer has scored two touchdowns in twoconsecutive games with two rushing touchdowns against BostonCollege and two against Pittsburgh.

*– Notre Dame sophomore right guard Tim Ridder made hisfirst career start.

*– Notre Dame has not scored on its first possession sincethe Irish intercepted a pass against Washington at theWashington 38-yard line and two plays later Autry Denson ran 33yards for Notre Dame’s first touchdown.

*– The 0-0 first quarter marked the first time since theseason-opening game at Vanderbilt that neither team scored inthe first 15 minutes of the game.