I still remember September 13, 1997. I was a month short of my 18th birthday and remember trudging to Ross-Ade Stadium with my brother-in-law and his Purdue alumni brother as Purdue got ready to play No. 11 Notre Dame. We were fresh off of a 14-point loss at Toledo and riding a 12-game losing streak to the Irish. It certainly looked like the Joe Tiller period of Purdue football was going to be just like the previous few years I remember seeing while growing up.
Then we shocked Notre Dame 28-17, and everything changed.
The Ross-Ade pavilion, the $65 million football facility, even the Mackey Arena renovations: all of that grew from a seed planted on September 13, 1997 when coach Tiller upset the Irish.