Nov. 19, 2007

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Senior running back Matt Forté claimed Tulane Football's Offensive Player of the Week honors while senior strong safety Joe Goosby claimed Defensive and Special Teams Player of the Week honors, Green Wave head coach Bob Toledo announced Monday.

The weekly honors are the 11th of the year for Tulane as the Green Wave posted consecutive wins for the first time since 2005 with a 45-31 Conference USA victory over Rice on Saturday in Houston, Texas. The weekly team honor was the sixth of the season for Forté, while Goosby claimed his two weekly titles of the year.

A native of Slidell, La., Forté ran for 194 yards and tied a school and C-USA record with five touchdowns in the win over the Owls. Along the way, Forté - who also posted 51 receiving yards on a catch and a pitch on a hook-and-lateral - became just the 11th player in NCAA Division I-Bowl Subdivision history to surpass the 2,000-yard rushing barrier in a single season.

With one game left to play this year, Forté currently has 2,007 yards and 22 touchdowns on 336 carries. In addition to topping the 2,000-yard mark, Forté set a couple of C-USA records on the day as well. He surpassed the former league single-season rushing record of 1,964 set by Memphis' DeAngelo Williams in 2005 and his 22 touchdowns ties Williams' former league mark set in 2004.

Forté's five touchdowns ties the Tulane single-game record he set on Sept. 22 against Southeastern Louisiana and ties the C-USA mark shared by five other league backs. He had 96 yards and two touchdowns by halftime, and did more of the same in the second half with 98 yards and three scores in the game's final 30 minutes.

Goosby, meanwhile, led all players with 14 tackles, including 11 of the solo variety and two tackles for loss, in the win over Rice. It was his second-highest tackle total of the season, two behind Goosby's career-high mark of 16 against Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 22, 2007, in the Louisiana Superdome.

A native of Houston, Texas, Goosby had two solo stops in the first quarter, three solo tackles in the second, two solo and two assisted tackles - including two tackles for loss - in the third, and four solo and one assisted stop in the fourth.

A key member of several Green Wave special teams units, Goosby helped Tulane limit Rice to 8.2 yards on five punt returns and 18.7 yards on six kickoff returns. He also posted one special teams tackle and recovered an on-side kick at the end of the game.

Forté, Goosby and the Green Wave return to action on Saturday, Nov. 24, when they close out the 2007 season with a noon kickoff at East Carolina. The games will be broadcast on the Tulane ISP Sports Network (local station, WIST AM 690) and live audio is available via the internet at www.TulaneGreenWave.com to registered members of the All-Access Pass. Live stats are also available free of charge on the official website of Tulane Athletics.