Yes, sir. No, ma'am.

As his parents sat in Notre Dame Stadium Saturday, none the worse from the 350 mile highway hypnosis of a Union 76/Stuckey's/Fairfield Inn-lined Interstate trek from Altoona, Iowa, both of them sounded almost as up-to-date on Notre Dame as the Fighting Irish coaching staff.

Needless to say, the son, playing quarterback in the nation's most sophisticated offense, knew even more.

For four commercial-filled hours on a perfect afternoon where he wasn't far from Mt. Perfect himself, Kyle Orton performed an attitude transplant on a nation focused on Heisman Trophy candidates from more glamourous addresses.

In leading Purdue (No. 9 in The Associated Press poll, 10th in the coaches') to a stunningly easy 41-16 win over the Irish (3-2), Orton drowned Notre Dame's ambitious defense in the perfect storm of crossing routes, circle patterns out of the backfield, flanker screens and the occasional deep bomb.

In all cases, the Irish were a step late and a mile short.

"He was," proclaimed Notre Dame defensive end Justin Tuck, who was one of the few Irish defenders to get a whiff of the 6-feet, 4-inch 220-pounder up close, "unstoppable."

With 21 completions in 31 attempts good for 385 yards and four touchdown passes, one short (2 yards to Rob Ninkovich with 1:03 left in the first half), one precedent-setting (97-yards to Taylor Stubblefield, the longest play ever from scrimmage against Notre Dame) and two medium -- 9 yards to Kyle Ingraham and 12 to Stubblefield sandwiched around a comeback-attempting Irish TD run by Rashon Powers-Neal), Orton eloquently stated his Heisman case.

Before we get to Orton -- which, incidentally, the Irish had a dreadful time trying to do -- there was this from Tuck.

"He is a great quarterback. A lot of people say he's the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy. He's got my vote."

More than a few folks wish Justin was on the eligible list instead of some knowlittle Billybob from Biloxi or Surfersam from San Rafael.

Playing essentially without a running game -- the Irish pretty much jammed up Jarod Void and Brandon Jones for the better part of three quarters, Orton worked his play-fakes, freezing the usually-mobile Irish linebackers solid as his revolving cast of receivers wove an inescapable web of defeat around the Irish defense.

"It feels the same as if I were nobody," Orton said with typical well-learned cornbelt modesty, when asked about his Heisman status.

"Offensively, we played about as good as we could."

Not exactly Sir Laurence Olivier stuff, but Orton, typically, saves the eloquence for between the white lines.

In a once-fierce rivalry that promises to spice upward in the next few years, Purdue picked up its first victory in 30 years in the reduced shadow of "Touchdown Jesus". Times and expectations have changed. Purdue's coach then was Alex Agase and the Irish were coached by one for the ages, Ara Parseghian, in his final year, with the Boilers coming out on top 21-16.

But Notre Dame had flattened Purdue much of the way since, until coach Joe Tiller showed up in 1996, reinserting a very competitive feel to the series.

There was little bulletin board material during the week. Both Tiller and Notre Dame coach Ty Willingham saw to that. But when the teams retreated from the field following the pre-game warmups, Irish cornerback Dwight Ellick decided to indulge Stubblefield in a little one-upsmanship.

"He said he was going to guard me so closely I wasn't going to be able to breathe," Stubblefield said later. Like one of the nation's great wideouts, possibly the statistical heir apparent to Pitt's Larry Fitzgerald, needed any extra incentive.

It came down to the classic macho showdown and Stubblefield, taking advantage of Orton's excellent pass-protection, had the luxury of improvising his already-creative routes. He wound up with seven receptions for 181 yards and two scores.

But the real devastater was the 97 yarder early in the third quarter. Purdue had parlayed a 3-3 tie breaking 100-yard kickoff return by Jerome Brooks to take a permanent lead, 10-3, and with a short Ben Jones field goal and Nincovich's two-yard T.D. reception, built it to 20-3 at halftime.

But here were the Irish driving long to open the third quarter and seemingly touchdown bound as promising freshman Darius Walker drove off left guard and pushed a defensive pile toward the goal line. Walker, however, made a classic frosh mistake, lifting the ball high as he spun one last time toward the goal line, leaving it for Purdue's Anthony Spencer to strip, a loose ball the 4-0 Boilers' D pounced on greedily.

On second and eight, Orton dropped deep, Tuck nearly getting to him, but protected (illegally?) by an up-back who tackled him. The unearned extra second allowed him to float the ball deep and behind a stumbling Ellick, Stubblefield grabbed it and raced to the end zone, slowing down over the final 40 yards to triumphantly wave the ball high. The 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct didn't really make much of a dent.

"Heck, no," Stubblefield said, when asked if it was deserved. "You're going 97 yards, you're running, you know it's a touchdown. I'm pumnp. As long as we won, I don't think (Tiller) will be too mad at me."

Mad? Tiller? No, Stubblefield. All week. "Everybody had us to lose," he told the South Bend Tribune's Vaughn McClure. "ESPN, Lee Corso, everybody."

If the media were waiting for Mr. Goodquote, Stubblefield rained volumes on them. "I will definitely not be as humble as he is about the whole thing," he said to McClure re: Orton's Heisman hype. "There is no choice but to say he is the frontrunner right now."

If the tributes from Notre Dame's vanquished are any indication, Orton, who will deal with Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan before October runs out, will have plenty of backing.

"It's inspirational watching him play out there," Quinn said.

"Kind of challenges me."

A sophomore with a terrific future, Quinn, who was sacked seven times, smacked seven more and had five passes batted down, completed 26 out of 46 passes for 432 yards, a day's yardage production second only to Joe Theismann's 523 in 1970. His lone touchdown was a 40-yard flanker screen to Rheema McKnight that seemed drawn out of Tiller's offensive playbook.

One summer day well before he graduates, don't bet against the powerfully-built Quinn sitting down with Orton and both recalling Oct. 2, 2004.

"This," he said, "was a learning process." The pain was etched, but that will leave soon. What will remain is the lesson learned watching one of the great quarterbacks in recent college football history.