Tulane 35, SE Louisiana 27

9/22/2007 10:54 PM

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -Matt Forte set Conference USA and school records with 303 rushing yards and a school record with five rushing touchdowns as Tulane beat Southeastern Louisiana, 35-27, on Saturday night in the Superdome.

Forte carried 40 times, scoring on runs of 20, 21, three, four, and 11 yards as the Green Wave (1-2) gave Coach Bob Toledo his first victory as a head coach since 2002, at UCLA.

Forte's rushing yardage broke the C-USA record of 300 yards set by Joffrey Reynolds of Houston against East Carolina in 2002, and Mewelde Moore's school record of 249, set against Cincinnati in 2001.

He broke the school single-game rushing touchdown record of Toney Converse (1998) and Charles Flournoy (1925), both against Louisiana Tech.

The Lions, members of the Division I Championship Subdivision, formerly known as I-AA, are 1-3.

SLU had taken a 20-14 halftime lead on a 63-yard pass by Brian Babin to Merrick Lanaux with 3:44 remaining in the second quarter.

Forte's 3-yard touchdown run edged Tulane ahead, 21-20, with 7:25 left in the third quarter.

The Green Wave extended the lead to 28-20 on Forte's 4-yard run with 4:48 left in the quarter. He scored his final touchdown on an 11-yard run with 4:25 left in the game.

SLU concluded the scoring on Brian Babin's 14-yard touchdown pass to Byron Ross with 1:57 left.

SLU took an early 7-0 lead when Travis Williams blocked a punt by Tulane's Ross Thevenot and Donald Frazier picked up the ball and ran 12 yards for a touchdown.

The Green Wave tied the score on the next possession when Forte ran 20 yards for a touchdown. After his 21-yard touchdown in the second quarter, the Lions cut the deficit to 14-13 on Jeff Turner's 22-yard and 37-yard field goals.