Brigham Young University's 41-37 victory over the Aggies of Texas A&M in the Pigskin Classic Aug. 24 was a high-scoring chase that left fans gasping for breath and school officials thumping their chests.

It was a game ballyhooed as a clash between the vaunted scoring attack of BYU and the bone-crushing defense of A&M.But in the beginning, it was a match-up that few dreamed possible. When the 1995-96 football season ended, BYU was not even a remote consideration for the Classic.

That season, by most standards, was another pearl in a chain of success. Co-champions of the Western Athletic Conference, five players were named first team All-WAC, a 7-4 record.

Still, on the scale of "rise and shout," the year lacked a little of the luster known during the years of touchdown pandemonium, a fact not lost on bowl committees who passed over BYU last year to break a 17-year record of consecutive bowl appearances.

Sitting home last Christmas, some felt that BYU's fortunes were falling. Others felt snubbed.

Athletic Director Rondo Fehlberg, on the other hand, saw it as an opportunity waiting to be plucked. If bowl games would not come to BYU, then BYU would go to the bowl games.

"When it became apparent that BYU would not be invited to a bowl game at the end of last season, we went to work to find a way to give the football program some exposure," the athletic director said.

In short time, he was sitting in the office of top ABC executives extolling the virtues of BYU football.

"They were cordial," he said. But since BYU did not end the previous season as a top 20 team, and since the stadium is on the small side of humongous, ABC executives listened with more politeness than passion.

At this point, Fehlberg took off the gloves and discussed the merits. BYU was returning key skill people, including a quarterback who set an NCAA passing efficiency record by throwing 31 of 34 passes for a 91 percent completion rate against Fresno State, the top punt return man in the country and a stadium considered to be among the most beautiful in the country.

The network wanted to ensure a high quality matchup to ensure a high quality game, Fehlberg said. And BYU has the reputation for being entertaining with the ability to score points.

In the end, ABC agreed. Hard lobbying, favorable circumstances and a measure of luck landed BYU the rights to play the vaunted Wrecking Crew. The Aggies of A&M were touted as the third best defensive team in the country last year with a 13th place ranking in pre-season polls this year.

"When we learned a few months ago that we would host the game, we saw it as a major opportunity to put the university on display," said BYU Pres. Merrill J. Bateman, who is a member of the Seventy. "The natural setting people would see on television - the mountains, the valley, the stadium - is spectacular. But more than that, we hoped people would learn about the values we have."

In terms of television significance, the game was seen in almost 4 million households. In addition, the winning touchdown was featured as the play of the day on Headline News.

It was the early banter on ESPN's radio program where commentators hyped the WAC's reputation for quick scoring drives. As the only game in the country, it was the lead story on countless news programs, including a two-minute report during the halftime segment of the Penn St. vs. USC game that aired Aug. 25.