Eric Dickerson stepped onto the field at Gerald J. Ford Stadium to a thunderous roar.

It was a crisp autumn afternoon, and the Mustangs were playing for their ninth win of the season. He had come home for homecoming, but it also seemed like he was there to give SMU permission to embrace this new era of program.

Dickerson was in the stands as Xavier Jones bounced a simple handoff to the left for a 64-yard touchdown to become the school's single-season touchdown leader in the Mustangs' 59-51 win against East Carolina.

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"I wish I had known that when I saw Eric in the locker room earlier," Mustangs coach Sonny Dykes said with a chuckle during his post-game press conference. "I would have given him a hard time about it."

Around that monumental achievement -- at least for the lesser teams between the Pony Express and this bowl-bound group -- James Proche became both the program's leader in career touchdown receptions with 35 and the all-time leader in consecutive games with a touchdown reception with his ninth such performance.

Emmanuel Sanders and Aldrick Robinson lost their top places in program history, as well.

"You know, college football is different now in some ways," Dykes said. "There's just a lot more scoring now. Just a different game with a lot more possessions and a lot more plays, and a lot more scoring. Records have a tendency to get broken with the way football is played now in the modern era, but it just shows you what a good player is."

Both Jones and Proche joined the program when nine wins in a single season was considered unfathomable by some. They were early believers right on the heels of the June Jones debacle that spoiled all the goodwill built up earlier in his tenure.

The program had won one game the season before they stepped on campus, down from highs of eight -- but not nine -- wins. It was a long way from playing at the prestigious Spring and DeSoto high school programs.

They helped make SMU a more prestigious destination through a roller-coaster career that still could close with double-digit wins and will certainly end with a second-career bowl appearance for both players -- heights not seen since Dickerson himself.

They helped make the program more formidable, even on days like Saturday when the defense gave up 644 total yards and 51 points.

There are still attainable goals out there. The American Athletic Conference's West Division is still within reach with a little help, and there's the dream of drawing a high-profile out-of-conference team in the near future. But this day was pretty sweet in its own right.

"I wanted to be Eric Dickerson growing up," Dykes said. "It's a pretty neat deal. It gives you a lot of pride in your school and university and who you're representing.

"We just appreciate them supporting us -- and caring. All of those guys love SMU and had a great experience here. Hopefully, [our players] will come back some day and we'll look back at this year and say, 'What a special year.' That's what you're aiming for."