Bush-Gore Rematch Hits the Big Easy on Sunday

In a city where football and politics always seem to intermingle, there will be a Bush-Gore rematch Sunday at the Superdome in New Orleans.

Nah, not George and Al. Instead, Reggie against Frank.

While the Saints' Reggie Bush has the flashier profile and the marquee name, it is the San Francisco 49ers ' Frank Gore who is coasting to a landslide victory in the individual statistical battle between these two talented backs entering Week 13. In fact, if it were election night, the pundits would have already declared Gore the winner.

Toiling away in relative obscurity, Gore has quietly emerged as one of the NFL's elite running backs in his second season out of Miami. He's on a hot streak without a doubt - four 100-yard games in his last five starts and second overall in the league in rushing with 1,177 yards.

Think Roger Craig or Wendell Tyler holds the franchise record for rushing yards in a single game? Think again. Gore lit up the defending Seattle Seahawks defense for 212 in Week 11.

Reggie Bush has yet to post a single 100-yard effort in his first NFL season but is showing signs of becoming a more decisive back in the past few weeks - he's using more more north-south methods and less east-west. In Sunday's 31-13 win over Atlanta, Reggie Bush 's fourth-quarter sweep around left end produced a 12-yard gain instead of a TD when the rookie impatiently ran up the backside of his lead blocker.

Experts agree that as Reggie masters the art of the position, euphoric moments will flow forth in abundance. He often seems on the verge of ripping off an 80-yarder, and his head coach Sean Payton admires his high character. In a league chock full of T.O.s and Ocho Cincos, Bush is soft-spoken and modest by contrast.

In a Wednesday morning interview on ESPN Radio, Payton cited Bush as one of hose "high-character guys" a head coach needs when trying to turn around a franchise in the doldrums.

"[Bill] Parcells told me when I took the job, 'you have to find out quickly what the problem is and, then, bring in as many character guys as you can'," said Payton. "New Orleans is a city where there a lot of distractions - drinking, gambling, Bourbon Street; we needed to bring in guys with great character like Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and Marques Colston."

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March
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•Dog thinks 2 $900 Super Bowl tickets tasty treat

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January
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December
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•Cardinals 24, Saints 31
•Bush Out For the Year 12/12/07
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