First, Russell went deep to Early Doucet for a 58-yard completion. Then, Russell scored himself on a 5-yard keeper up the middle.

Russell said his matchup with Quinn wasn’t personal.

“My main thing was to play a good game against Brady Quinn’s defense,” Russell said. “I wasn’t playing against him.”

Notre Dame hasn’t won a postseason game since its 24-21 victory over Texas A&M in the 1994 Cotton Bowl. “O-ver-ra-ted!” the Tiger-dominated crowd roared after freshman Keiland Williams ripped off his second touchdown of the game, a 20-yard run with just under 7½ minutes remaining.

But the biggest cheers came on LSU’s next possession. Russell made one handoff, then came out of the game to standing ovation.

Notre Dame was determined to get off to a strong start, but it sure didn’t work out that way. Weis called a fake punt that backfired, and the Irish looked just as tight and nervous as they did at the beginning of blowout losses to Michigan and Southern Cal.

At least they didn’t fold until the second half, fighting back to tie the game at 14.

The offenses had their way, with three 80-yard scoring drives and another covering 82. The only exception followed the fake punt on Notre Dame’s opening possession. With the Irish facing fourth-and-3 at their own 34, the coach called for a direct snap to up-back Travis Thomas, but he was stuffed for no gain.

Two plays later, LSU had the lead. Russell hooked up with Doucet on a 31-yard pass and Williams powered over from the 3.

The Tigers made it 14-0 on their next possession. Russell broke off a 21-yard run on a draw to get deep into Notre Dame territory, and finished off the drive with an 11-yard scoring pass to Dwayne Bowe.

Notre Dame’s next possession started ominously — Quinn was sacked for a 10-yard loss. But Darius Walker ran for 11 yards and turned a short pass into a 21-yard gain. Quinn finished it off with 24-yard TD pass to David Grimes.

Walker rushed for all but 3 of his 128 yards in the first half.

David missed a 31-yard field goal try, and Notre Dame responded to that momentum-changer with the tying touchdown as Quinn went to his favorite receiver, Jeff Samardzija, on a 10-yard TD pass.

The game marked another step in New Orleans’ rebuilding effort from Hurricane Katrina. The Sugar Bowl was played last year in Atlanta because of massive damage to the Superdome, but a $185 million renovation got the stadium up and running in late September.

Thousands of Notre Dame and LSU fans descended on the Big Easy, which still has areas that look like a war zone from the flooding caused by Katrina more than 16 months ago.

But Bourbon Street sure was hoppin’ with purple and gold.

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