"(Team trainer) Jim Russ gave me a pill so I could go to sleep fast," Godsey said of the previous night. "I woke up in the same position I went to bed in."

Godsey needed help getting to sleep. Notre Dame needed help winning the game, help Purdue supplied by the ton. Surely it took more than the Boilermakers' trademark train engine to haul all the gifts from West Lafayette to South Bend.

Notre Dame QB Gary Godsey leaves Purdue defenders in his wake on the way to a touchdown.(AP)

But there is no taking away the final score, a 23-21 victory for Notre Dame that came after Nick Setta's 38-yard field goal on the last play. The Irish are 2-1, almost 3-0. They are not a great team. But they are a gutsy team, and in this case, that's more than just blabber under the golden dome.

"The last drive showed something about this team's character," Godsey said.

The final statistics showed something less about the coaching of Purdue's Joe Tiller, who presided over a game in which quarterback Drew Brees threw only 22 passes.

Tiller showed class after the game, even taking the blame for an unconscionably audacious and dumb move by his punter, who audibled to a pass that fell incomplete deep in Purdue's own territory in the third quarter.

The coach also had to endure a blocked punt on the game's first possession, which allowed Godsey to start his first drive at Purdue's 4-yard line. Then there was Notre Dame's 60-yard interception return for a touchdown -- Tiller blamed a young receiver, not Brees -- that gave the Irish a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

It seemed tenuous, though. And sure enough, the game went down to the final play.

"It was a good football game," Tiller said. "Hope you enjoyed it."

But the folksy, likable Tiller couldn't explain Brees' role. Even with a protective, hand-holding offense -- Notre Dame didn't throw on first down until the fourth quarter -- Godsey threw more passes than Brees. The final score was "Sophomore Playing His First Game 25, Heisman Trophy Candidate 22."

"I don't think that's right," Notre Dame coach Bob Davie said when somebody mentioned the numbers.

Oh, yeah, it was right. Godsey threw more than Brees.

"I did?" he said. "Wow. Sweet. ... I completed more? Sweet."

Tiller noted that the Boilermakers were moving the ball on the ground, but he admitted, "We ran the football too much today."

Godsey, whose brother is the starting quarterback at Georgia Tech, easily could have been a goat. The 6-foot-7 sophomore, who's filling in for injured Arnaz Battle, threw an interception that Purdue converted into a touchdown to take a 21-20 lead before the game's final possession.

On the final drive, though, Godsey calmly led the Irish down the field. The most impressive play was a 15-yard completion to Javin Hunter on third-and-10 from his own 37-yard line. In the first quarter, Godsey didn't look like a guy who could have made that throw. But it wasn't nerves, the Irish said.

"He's kind of a big, easygoing guy," Davie said. "I gave him a game ball after the game and wanted him to come up and say a couple of words. It took him three or four minutes just to get up there. He's just a relaxed kind of guy. I don't think he was rattled. I think we can probably do some more things with him. I don't know that we gave him a chance today to do a lot."

Notre Dame's defense, playing without starting end Grant Irons, who's out for the season with an injury, helped ease Godsey's transition.

So did Setta, who had 47- and 32-yard field goals before the game-winner. Setta didn't play last year as a freshman, and wasn't named the starter this season until just before the opener. Davie called it a gut feeling. He liked the kid's attitude, which he called "confident, almost arrogant."

Receiver Joey Getherall sees it away from the stadium.

"Just the way he struts and walks," Getherall said. "We like it."

There hasn't been much strutting around Notre Dame Stadium lately, especially on the Irish sideline. So Davie sweated this game out to the very end, keeping close tabs on the wind. When Purdue called timeout to try to freeze Setta, Davie said, the wind started swirling. When Notre Dame snapped the ball, Davie said, it calmed.

The coach/weatherman said he would have been proud of the Irish no matter where Setta's kick sailed.

But don't get him wrong.

"I understand 1-2 or 2-1 better than anyone," Davie said.