Mark Ingram II would go on to make two Pro Bowls in New Orleans before he finished his first stint with the team. He was really able to make a name for himself towards the latter part of this stay. However, the one moment that truly put the former running back on the map came in his early days, when things weren’t going so well for him.

The New Orleans Saints were playing the Dallas Cowboys on November 10, 2013 at home, in front of 73,018 fans. In the first quarter, quarterback Drew Brees fired a short pass over the middle to Ingram, who dropped it. The stadium reacted before he even had time to process it. Looking back, Ingram recalls being stunned in the moment.

“The ball just comes from like behind Zack Strief’s head,” Mark Ingram said, per NOF Network. “It’s on me. And like the catch that I’m probably four yards, but he threw it, and I went to get it, and it just went through my hands. If I caught it, I probably would have turned up the field 30 yards, first down. … I remember the stadium booed, bro.

“I’m like, ‘Did they just boo me?’ I’m like, ‘I know they weren’t booing Drew.’ I know they weren’t booing the offense. I’m like, ‘Did they just boo me?’ And it like messed me up for a minute, and I’m like, ‘You know what, I’m like, F this.”

Ingram chose to express his frustration more openly by shoving his fists in the air, slamming the ball to the ground, and even getting a penalty for it. But somewhere in that anger, something clicked, and the whole stadium watched it happen.

He finished that game with 145 yards and a touchdown on just 14 carries. It was his very first 100-yard game in the league, and remains one of his best performances to this day. New Orleans blew out Dallas 49-17, and Ingram walked away with the commemorative game ball NBC handed him afterward.

“It feels great to have a good game. I’ve been waiting for a 100-yard game since I got into the league,” Ingram said at that time, according to ESPN. “I’m just gonna cherish this forever. … I know Drew [Brees] and everybody else have probably had a lot of these. But I’m gonna love it.”

He wasn’t the only one feeling it either. Teammates like Jabari Greer and Pierre Thomas took notice of the performance, and Brees summed it up best, describing Ingram as “a man on a mission.” It gave the Saints a lifeline too, keeping their fight to reach the NFC South Championship alive. They lost two of their three previous games.

What made the moment hit harder was everything that came before it. Injuries had plagued Ingram’s career, and stretches where the production just never showed up. That season was supposed to be his turning point, and for one night, it finally was.