Editor's Note: Rocket Ismail will be honored this Saturday, Nov. 2, with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments, during Notre Dame's home game against Virginia Tech. He will be officially inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame during the 62nd NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 10 in New York City.

Raghib "Rocket" Ismail
University of Notre Dame
Kick Returner/Wide Receiver, 1988-90

• Twice named a First Team All-American (consensus-1989, unanimous-1990).
• Named Walter Camp Player of the Year and was the Heisman Trophy runner-up in 1990.
• Led Notre Dame to the 1988 national championship at the Fiesta Bowl and to two Orange Bowls.
• Played for College Football Hall of Fame Coach Lou Holtz.
• Becomes the 47th Notre Dame player inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Just how explosive was Raghib Ismail? Let's just say he left his own teammates in so much awe that they regularly overlooked their own jobs.

"When we lined Rocket up in the backfield and I had a strong pitch right or an option, sometimes on the strong pitch I would pitch it to him and I would watch him run instead of carrying out my fake because he looked so smooth running and I wished I was that fast," said Tony Rice, Ismail's quarterback at Notre Dame. "Just an enjoyable person to watch on the field. Off the field, great dad, great family man. But on the field he is a rocket. That name suits him well."

"Rocket" Ismail is Notre Dame's record 47th College Football Hall of Fame player, after a career that saw him earn consensus First Team All-America honors as a kick returner in 1989 and unanimous First Team All-America honors as a receiver and kick returner in 1990. Oh, and he helped lead the Fighting Irish to the 1988 national title and finished as the Heisman Trophy runner-up in 1990, too.

"The thing that stands out to me was my freshman year, and we were getting ready to play the mighty [Miami] Hurricanes and it was like a pregame rumble and it was the equivalent of standing up to the bully and realizing that you had the goods," Ismail said on "SportsCenter" after the Hall announcement. "That stands out to me the most of any of my football memories because it was like a test, and it gave us courage moving forward.

"Being a part of that team, and the national championship followed a couple of months later, so playing for a legendary coach, playing at a legendary university, just being in that atmosphere, being in that environment was definitely a blessing."

Ismail's Irish teams went 33-4 and had three top-six finishes in his three seasons in South Bend, Indiana. He is the only player in NCAA history to have returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in two games. His 22 yards per catch and his five kick return touchdowns are Notre Dame records. He is one of just two players in program history to post more than 1,000 rushing yards and more than 1,000 receiving yards.

The speedster was also an All-American on the Irish's track team.

Ismail took an unconventional path out of college, choosing to sign with the CFL's Toronto Argonauts. He won the Grey Cup and game MVP honors in his first season there, and he went to the NFL in 1993, playing three seasons apiece for the Raiders and Panthers and four with the Cowboys. The Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, native now lives in Dallas, where he serves as a motivational speaker.

"[It's an] amazing honor, and the reflecting that I've been doing since I heard the information, just it takes a lot of people to help get you to a place where you can even be considered to be a Hall of Famer or [earn] any honor like that," Ismail said on "SportsCenter." "So, I've just been thinking about all the people along the way that helped me.

"I know my mom passed away a couple years ago; I was just thinking about the feeling I had anytime I won an award and I would take it home and like give the award to her, how proud she was, or if she could be a part of the ceremony or whatever was going on at the time. So I was just thinking about that and thinking about how it's really cool to be able to have the opportunity to show my children and share with my wife, and so just a lot of thoughts like that going through my head."