Northwestern football walked into, arguably, the biggest night in Wildcats program history. They pulled off more than winning their first game at the new Ryan Field on Friday, though. Northwestern's 34-13 trouncing of Penn State hit new program history.

The Wildcats turned to ground-and-pound tactics to wear down the Nittany Lions. College football insider for The Athletic Stewart Mandel then revealed this new stat line attached to the Wildcats.

“Their *413* rushing yards was the school's most in a game since 2003,” Mandel posted on the social media website X, formerly Twitter.

Northwestern walked into a sea of purple and a loud student section awaiting to enter inside the new home venue. Then running back Joe Himon started to attack openings created by the Northwestern offensive line in this Big Ten Friday evening showdown.

His name is Joe Himon and he likes to score touchdowns. pic.twitter.com/b7bexV7Zsx

— Northwestern Football (@NUFBFamily) October 3, 2026

Himon wasn't through gashing the Nittany Lions, tacking on this rumble for the second time on the evening.

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Himon hit an astonishing 134 yards. And did that on only five carries before halftime plus scored twice and a previously ranked Penn State team. The Nittany Lions fell out of the top 25 following the upset loss to Wisconsin in Happy Valley.

But this contest handed PSU a way worse result. Penn State's hopes of landing in the Big Ten title game, plus impress the College Football Playoff committee, took a massive hit. Meanwhile, Northwestern has placed both on notice.

The Wildcats easily could've been 4-0. Indiana escaped 29-23 in Bloomington last Friday against this feisty bunch. Now NU can boost its chances moving ahead by taking down its remaining three ranked foes in Oregon, Iowa and Ohio State.