updated 3:12 a.m. ET Jan. 5, 2007

NEW ORLEANS - If only this city’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina could be measured by the cheers and smiles in the rebuilt Louisiana Superdome.

The first Sugar Bowl back in New Orleans since the devastating storm offered yet another chance for a wildly popular Louisiana team to put on a crowd-pleasing performance here, and No. 4 LSU came through with a 41-14 rout of No. 11 Notre Dame.

“There could be no place we’d rather play than in the Sugar Bowl and in a state and city so close to our hearts,” LSU coach Les Miles said before accepting the winner’s trophy.

About 16 months ago, the Superdome became an international symbol for misery as floodwaters flowed in surrounding streets and tens of thousands of storm evacuees suffered in hot, squalid conditions for days.

In September, the NFL’s Saints christened a $185 million renovation with a convincing victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football. The Saints continued to play so well that Superdome workers will have to do something they’ve never done before: wash out the Sugar Bowl design on the field and repaint a black-and-gold fleur-de-lis for the Saints first second-round home playoff game in the franchise’s four-decade history.

It’s been one of the feel-good stories of the year, and after LSU initially campaigned for the Rose Bowl, Tigers players and coaches said repeatedly in recent days that they cherished the opportunity to be a part of the story in rebuilding New Orleans.

“Our first game back here in the Sugar Bowl, and we finished off strong just like the Saints did the first game back in the Superdome,” said LSU safety LaRon Landry, who grew up near New Orleans. “We didn’t want to let our community down, so we just really came out there pumped up and ready to give back.”

Landry, who intercepted a pass by Notre Dame star Brady Quinn, recalled how the basketball arena at LSU was used briefly as a shelter for people who had lost homes after the storm, and how LSU players helped attend to the evacuees.

“They turned to us for help, and football got their mind off of everything they lost, so I feel real great about coming back and winning the Sugar Bowl,” he said.

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The Tigers play their home games only 80 miles up the Mississippi River from here. Their alumni and fans are prevalent in New Orleans and all across parts of the Louisiana coast that were devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. LSU has put together a pair of 11-2 seasons since those storms, beating Miami 40-3 in the Peach Bowl to conclude last season and blowing out the Fighting Irish this year.

“Our guys would like to do more, but they really for two years did what they were supposed to do, and that’s play for the great state of Louisiana,” Miles said.

Much of the Superdome, much of the city even, had become a festival of LSU purple and gold over the past few days. People driving to work around 9 a.m. Wednesday morning found downtown parking lots already dotted with LSU tailgate parties that got more numerous and larger throughout the day.

Inside the Superdome, most of the crowd of 77,781, the fourth-largest in Sugar Bowl history, were clad in LSU colors, and the Tigers gave their fans plenty of memories to take home. Not the least of those was quarterback JaMarcus Russell’s stellar performance in what was expected to be his final game for LSU.

He would not say whether he intended to come back for his senior season, but the fans screamed for him to do so after he threw for 332 yards, including two 58-yard completions, one for a touchdown to Brandon LaFell that put the game away.

Russell won the game’s most outstanding player award and his first bowl game, perhaps doing away with the notion espoused by some of his critics that he falters in big games.

The local fans, meanwhile, had an outstanding time watching it all.

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“It definitely was a big win to bring this city together after such a tragic event that happened last year,” said receiver Early Doucet, who grew up in the south Louisiana town of St. Martinville and finished with eight catches for 115 yards.

“Everybody was down and out, but for some reason they were so much concerned about football. When they lost valuables, they were worried about football. So I thought us coming down here tonight and winning this game not only for ourselves, but for New Orleans and Louisiana, says a lot about our team and how much dedication we have for this state,” he said.

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