Leon Lett lives!

Just ask Carroll College football player Owen Koeppen.

On the third play of the Saints' game at Eastern Oregon University Saturday, Koeppen, a senior linebacker, stepped in front of a pass and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown.

Almost.

With a wall of blockers leading him, Koeppen ran and celebrated the touchdown along with the rest of his teammates on defense and on the sideline, except the ball didn't cross the goalline.

"I think I may have been a foot away," Koeppen said after the top-ranked Saints won 48-10 to improve to 6-0 overall. "We were all celebrating, but I just didn't run all the way to the end zone, the old Leon Lett play."

Justin Udy, a sophomore for the Mountaineers, ran Koeppen down from behind and knocked the ball forward through the end zone, which turned the play into a touchback. Eastern Oregon got the ball back at its 20.

The play reminded Koeppen of an infamous play from the 1993 Super Bowl, where Dallas defensive lineman Leon Lett seemed to have returned a fumble 35 yards for a touchdown, only the ball got knocked out of his hands inside the 1 and through the end zone for a touchback by Buffalo receiver Don Beebe.

Koeppen intercepted another pass in the third quarter, and that turnover led to a Carroll score, but his first interception is likely to live a long life in the Carroll locker room.

"I was celebrating just like everyone else on the sideline," Carroll coach Mike Van Diest said. "I didn't see the end of the play because I was getting the kicking team ready for the extra point.

"(Udy) did a great job on that play to not give up and run that play down. That was a great play, an outstanding play on his part."