CHAPEL HILL As his teammates celebrated a win they won't soon forget Saturday night, North Carolina wide receiver Hakeem Nicks tracked down Notre Dame cornerback Raeshon McNeil.

Nicks, a junior from Charlotte's Independence High, had performed brilliantly when his team needed him in the 22nd-ranked Tar Heels' 29-24 win at Kenan Stadium.

Fellow wideout Brandon Tate had suffered a first-quarter knee sprain. Another receiver, Brooks Foster, dropped two passes in the first half.

The Tar Heels couldn't afford anything but Nicks' best effort. And he delivered. He tied a career high with nine catches. He had 141 of North Carolina's 201 receiving yards.

It was Nicks' eighth game of 100 yards receiving or more, breaking a school record.

“That's just what I do when my name is called on,” he said. “I have to make a big play, and I want the quarterback to count on me.”

Notre Dame's cornerbacks were showing press coverage on Nicks and then bailing out late to prevent the big play. So the Tar Heels threw short to Nicks and allowed him to run with the ball.

McNeil was the victim on some of those plays. A former Davie County High player, he has met up with Nicks plenty of times.

They were friendly rivals in high school. (Nicks never lost in high school, so you know how those turned out). They dueled in practice before representing North Carolina in the Shrine Bowl.

Now McNeil had secured 20 tickets for friends and family members to see him play as a junior in his home state at Chapel Hill. His grandmother, brothers and a nephew were in the stands, but he couldn't show them a win.

“I got a lot of passes thrown my way this game, which is definitely something new,” McNeil said.

That's because Nicks had overwhelmingly become North Carolina's top option in the passing game. Foster was disappointed with his drops, which included a replay-reviewed incompletion that could have clinched the win late in the fourth quarter.

“He definitely carried the team on his back, I think,” Foster said. “I had a tough night. Tate went down. . . . .”

Nicks said McNeil was in good spirits even as North Carolina people celebrated around him. They talked about how they always seem to meet up.

And they expressed hope that they would meet again.

“At the end,” McNeil said, “we just told each other, ‘See you at the next level.' ”