HE WAS everywhere. He did everything. He ran through everybody. He made the renovated stadium reverberate.

Yeah, you could say Toby Gerhart had quite a night in Stanford's breathless 45-38 victory over Notre Dame on Saturday.

Gerhart for the Heisman? Why not?

He closed out this victory, he closed out the Stanford regular season, he closed out the final home game of his college career, and now he has to be considered the pre-eminent late-closing contender for the big trophy.

"It's a team game," Gerhart said, once he emerged from a sea of fans who wanted to touch his shoulder pads and yell his name. "It was a high-scoring game, that's what people wanted to see.

"I played well enough to win the game. (The Heisman is) not up to me. It's up to the voters."

Really, there's no need for a campaign spiel. Not if any plurality of award voters watched Gerhart carry 29 times for 205 yards and three touchdowns, through various splayed Irish defenders.

Or just heard the crash-impact when Gerhart pummeled Notre Dame cornerback Gary Gray on a 13-yard gain during Stanford's go-ahead score.

Or when he ran over the next Notre Dame defender. Or the one who tried to tackle him on the next play. Or the play after that.

And, a series earlier, on the game's key fourth-down play, Gerhart also casually threw an 18-yard touchdown to Ryan Whalen, who caught it with a roll to the ground.

"We

Granted, it came against an Irish team that has been poor defensively all season and surely was playing its final regular-season game for doomed Charlie Weis.

And Gerhart picked up the go-ahead score with 59 seconds left when it seemed clear that the Irish were intentionally surrendering the TD in order to get the ball back with time left.

But still, this was a nationally televised stage, with a Heisman race that is far from settled, and Gerhart delivered his own November Surprise.

Precisely when Stanford needed a game of all games out of its star senior tailback.

Gerhart held the Cardinal together, the way he has all season.

Saturday, Gerhart was the essential piece when the Stanford defense was overmatched by Irish receiver Golden State (three TD catches, 201 yards), when quarterback Andrew Luck found only moderate success and when a series of penalties threatened to completely throttle Stanford.

When the Cardinal was eminently beatable. Except for No. 7, who was not stoppable.

The big-picture stats: Gerhart finished the regular season with 26 rushing TDs, which leads the nation and is a conference record, breaking Corey Dillon and LenDale White's tie at 24.

Gerhart also became the nation's leading rusher, raising his season total to 1,736 yards.

The other stats: Stanford raised its record to 8-4, its best mark since 2001, and ended Notre Dame's seven-game winning streak against the Cardinal.

So argue all you want about Florida's Tim Tebow, Texas' Colt McCoy and Alabama's Mark Ingram. They've had tremendous seasons. Each one of them still has a bead on the national title.

But there was something tangible — percussive and persuasive — about what Gerhart did Saturday.

At the very least, Gerhart has earned Heisman finalist status, which would get him a trip to New York for the ceremony.

"How can you not at least invite him?" Luck said logically.

They have to invite Gerhart. If the few hundred voters saw this game, and I'm sure most of them did, he will get invited.

If enough of them saw it — and felt it — Gerhart might even win it. You do not want to get in his way when there's a goal in sight and the crowd is roaring.

Contact tkawakami@bayareanewsgroup.com.