A week after a thrilling comeback victory over Michigan State on the road, 12th-ranked Notre Dame returned to South Bend and thrashed an overmatched Purdue defense 35-21 on Saturday afternoon.

Despite the Boilermakers' lax pass defense, head coach Charlie Weis and Notre Dame looked to establish the run early, giving tailback Darius Walker every opportunity to get in gear with six touches on the opening drive.

The early emphasis on Walker paid dividends for the Irish when freshman George West scored his first career touchdown on an end around for an 11-yard score after quarterback Brady Quinn faked a handoff to Walker. The score capped a seven-play, 70-yard drive with Walker accounting for 59 of the yards.

Purdue quarterback Curtis Painter marched the Boilermakers downfield on his second possession and tied the game at 7. The Fighting Irish responded with another seven- play drive, this time culminating in a 14-yard touchdown scamper by Walker.

Rhema McKnight made it 21-7 when he caught a six-yard touchdown from Quinn to cap a 10-play, 72-yard drive. McKnight grabbed a career-high 10 catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns as the Fighting Irish amassed a season-high 454 total yards.

Quinn completed 24 of his first 28 passes and finished 29-for-38 for 316 yards against a team with the fifth-worst pass defense in the country. Walker finished with 146 yards on 36 carries.

Jeff Samardzija scored on a fake field goal attempt as the wideout – who doubles as the holder – took the snap and darted into the end zone from six yards out to extend the Fighting Irish lead to 28-7.

Purdue cut the deficit to 28-14 when Selwyn Lymon caught a pass from Painter and went 88 yards for an easy touchdown after a breakdown in the Fighting Irish secondary. Lymon finished with eight catches for 238 yards – the second most by a Purdue receiver and the most ever by an Irish opponent.

The third quarter began just the way the opening quarter began: with another Notre Dame touchdown. Quinn found McKnight for a 12-yard touchdown to cap an eight-play, 64-yard drive to extend the lead to 35-14.

Despite the offense going scoreless in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame's defense held the Boilermakers to just seven second half points to notch their fourth victory and turn their attention to the Stanford Cardinal, who come into South Bend next Saturday hoping and praying they can slow down Quinn and the mighty offense.