Brady Quinn and the 13^th ranked Irish hooked up with in state rival Purdue Saturday.  The Irish had a bit of revenge on their mind as the Boilermakers came into Notre Dame Stadium last season and manhandled the Irish, 41-16.  This time the series returned to Ross-Ade Stadium where Purdue began its two game streak over Notre Dame, 23-10.

Purdue came in ranked 22^nd in the nation and were coming off a heart wrenching double overtime loss to Big Ten rival Minnesota, 35-42.  Notre Dame came in with an emotional victory over former coach, Tyrone Willingham and the Washington Huskies.

Notre Dame would set the tempo early scoring a touchdown on four of their first five first half possessions.

Quinn and company would get things going when they took over on their own 10-yard line and would march 90-yards for what was the season’s longest drive.  The drive started off ominously for Notre Dame as Darius Walker was dropped for a five-yard loss, pushing the Irish back to their five-yard line.  Quinn quickly turned things around by hitting senior wide out Maurice Stovall for a 21-yard gain. 

Walker followed that up with a 19-yard burst taking the Irish down to their 45-yard line.  Three plays later, Quinn hit Jeff Samardzija for a 41-yard gain that took the Irish down to the Purdue 1-yard line.  The play looked to be a bust for the Irish as Quinn was almost sacked, but instead it turned out to be the play of the year thus far for Quinn and the offense.  It was that kind of night for the junior signal caller.