By CLIFF BRUNT
AP Sports Writer

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.(AP) -- Me'co Brown ran for 150 yards, and
Northern Illinois beat Purdue 28-21 Saturday for its first
victory against a Big Ten school since 1988.

Chad Spann rushed for 80 yards and two touchdowns for the
Huskies (2-1).

Northern Illinois, a Mid-American Conference school, entered the
game 1-32-1 all time against the Big Ten.

Purdue quarterback Joey Elliott passed for 188 yards and ran for
68 yards and two touchdowns. But the Huskies held Ralph Bolden,
the nation's leading rusher after two games, to 64 yards.

Purdue (1-2) looked sluggish one week after taking Oregon to the
limit in a 38-36 loss. The Huskies outgained the Boilermakers
454 yards to 335 and kept the ball for 41:40.

Purdue trailed 28-21 in the fourth quarter and expected to get
the ball back with about 3:30 left after forcing Northern
Illinois into a fourth down, but the Huskies resorted to
trickery. Justin Anderson took a direct snap on a fake punt 11
yards for a first down. NIU eventually punted but didn't leave
Purdue enough time to mount a threat.

Purdue's Aaron Valentin started the scoring with a weaving,
bobbing, 62-yard punt return for a touchdown in the first
quarter.

Spann's 1-yard touchdown run tied the score in the second
quarter, and Brown's 67-yard touchdown run gave the Huskies a
14-7 lead.

Valentin fumbled a punt that NIU recovered at the Purdue 35, but
Spann fumbled it right back to Purdue.

Valentin fumbled again on his next return, and NIU recovered at
the Purdue 23. The Huskies took advantage this time when
Chandler Harnish completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Reed
Cunningham to make it 21-7 at halftime. Northern Illinois
outgained Purdue 247 yards to 74 before the break.

Purdue reached the NIU 28-yard line on its second possession of
the third quarter, but the Huskies stuffed Elliott on a
fourth-and-1 to stop the threat.

NIU came back with a 13-play, 62-yard drive that ended with
Spann's 11-yard touchdown run for a 28-7 lead with 2:43 left in
the third quarter.

Elliott, not known for his mobility, turned a broken play into a
58-yard touchdown run to cut Northern Illinois' lead to 28-14
heading into the fourth quarter.

Elliott led the Boilermakers on an 11-play, 80-yard drive, then
finished it with a 6-yard touchdown run that cut NIU's lead to
28-21 with 5:42 to play.