Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press Penn State running back Tony Hunt runs for a gain in the second quarter yesterday against Temple. Click photo for larger image.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State senior running back Tony Hunt put himself in some elite company yesterday. Hunt rushed for a career-high 167 yards on 16 carries and scored four times. In doing so, he etched his name into the Penn State record book.

Hunt became the sixth Penn State running back to rush for 1,000 yards in two seasons. The others to do it were John Cappelletti, Curt Warner, Blair Thomas, Ki-Jana Cater and Curtis Enis.

Hunt is now in fifth place in career rushing yards at Penn State. He has 3,032 and is behind only Warner, Thomas, Enis and D.J. Dozier. Hunt needs 367 yards in the final two games to become Penn State's all-time leading rusher.

"I'm just glad to be mentioned in that company," he said. "It's an honor."

Hunt is quietly having a tremendous season for the Lions. He has 1,098 yards and yesterday became the first Penn State player since Larry Johnson in 2002 to score four touchdowns in a game.

"The thing that Tony gives us is he is a very consistent runner and receiver," offensive coordinator Galen Hall said. "He's just the whole package. He's going to be difficult to replace. But we still have two more games with Tony and hopefully he can play as well as he has been."

100 times 3

Senior linebacker Paul Posluszny became the first Penn State player to have three 100-tackle seasons. He went over the century mark yesterday with seven tackles, including three for losses. He also had a sack and forced a fumble.

This week, the All-American will play his final game at Beaver Stadium.

"That'll be tough," defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said. "Paul and I go way back to recruiting. He's the heart and soul of our defense. He's a competitor. After we took him out of the game, he was on the sidelines driving me crazy, saying, 'Why did you take me out?' I said I didn't. It was coach [Ron] Vanderlinden."

A big play ... finally

Derrick Williams hadn't scored since the third game against Youngstown State.

Then in a matter of seconds, Williams ended his scoring slump with a dazzling 75-yard punt return for a touchdown. Williams fielded a punt, started to his left, reversed field and then outran Temple's punt coverage down the opposite sideline.

"He's a pretty explosive guy," Bradley said. "It seemed like we've just been missing [on punt returns] all year. That was a great effort on his part. Once Derrick gets through there, he's pretty tough to catch."

A few minutes later, Williams had a chance to make another big play, but he dropped a perfect pass from Anthony Morelli in the end zone.

Quick hits

Kevin Kelly has made 19 field goals this season. Matt Bahr holds the single-season record with 22. ... Penn State quarterbacks completed 17 passes to 11 receivers. ... Temple quarterback Adam DiMichele (Sto-Rox) was 7 for 17 for 52 yards and had one interception. ... Williams' punt return was the longest since Bryant Johnson returned a punt 81 yards against Michigan State in 2002.