1988 Cotton Bowl Classic The 1988 Cotton Bowl Classic was a college football bowl game played on January 1 , 1988 , at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas , Texas , USA . The bowl game featuredthe Independent Fighting Irish of Notre Dame versus the Southwest Conference Champion Aggies of Texas A & M . Played in front of 73 , 006 people , Texas A & M won the game by a final score of 35 - 10 . This was the final Cotton Bowl played without a sponsor for the game . Game Summary . An added bonus to the 1988 Cotton Bowl was Notre Dame ’ s Tim Brown , a Dallas native and the 53rd winner of the Heisman Trophy . Brown ’ s presence marked the third time in four seasons the Heisman winner would play in the Cotton Bowl . He also was the Irish ’ s seventh Heisman winner , but the first ever to play in a bowl game . Brown and the Irish were the talk of the town , and the excitement led right up to kickoff . The game was barely three minutes old when Brown delivered . Having returned the opening kickoff 37 yards , Brown helped Notre Dame gain an early lead when quarterback Terry Andrysiak hit his All - America receiver with a 17 - yard scoring pass . Down 7 - 0 , the Aggies countered on Scott Slater ’ s 26 - yard field goal on the final play of the first quarter , but at that point the game belonged clearly to Notre Dame . The Irish took the ensuing kickoff and marched 51 yards for Ted Gradel ’ s 36 - yard field goal and a 10 - 3 advantage . Four minutes later , Notre Dame was on the move again . Driving from their own 20 . Andrysiak and Brown quickly moved the Irish back into scoring position . On second down at the A & M 18 , Andrysiak dropped back to pass and his target was tight end Andy Heck . A & M ’ s Alex Morris read the play and made a leaping interception in the corner of the end zone for what proved to be the key play of the game . The Aggies seized the opportunity and stormed through the Notre Dame defense , needing only six plays to move 80 yards and tie the game . Freshman running back Darren Lewis ended the drive , surprising the Irish defense by throwing 24 yards to Tony Thompson for the touchdown . Things got worse for Notre Dame . On their first play following the A & M score , the Irish fumbled the ball back to the Aggies . Tony Jones made the recovery at the Notre Dame 21 and four plays later , freshman running back Larry Horton carried two yards for the go - ahead score . A successful two - point conversion pushed the Aggies to an 18 - 10 half - time lead . Texas A & M didn ’ t let up in the second half . Quarterback Bucky Richardson , another one of the Aggies ’ talented freshmen , scored twice to ice the game , and Slater added another field goal . Taking a cue from the offense , Aggie defenders began to dominate , setting up four of A & M ’ s six scores with turnovers . The A & M “ Wrecking Crew , ” composed of linebackers Adam Bob , Aaron Wallace , Dana Batiste , and John Roper , and noseguard Sammy O ’ Brient , smothered the Notre Dame attack . After catching six passes for 105 yards in the game ’ s first 22 minutes , Brown was shut down completely and did not make another reception following Morris ’ key interception . In the fourth quarter , he was ejected from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct . It was a decisive victory for A & M , 35 - 10 .