Even though the Green Wave’s season ended nearly three weeks ago, Tulane University football standouts Matt Forté and Andrew Nierman continue to garner headlines as the pair was named All-American and Freshman All-American, respectively, by an assortment of national publications.

Forté claimed second-team All-America honors from Sports Illustrated (SI.com) while claiming third-team recognition from the Associated Press and Phil Steele Publications. Nierman, meanwhile, was named honorable-mention Freshman All-American by The Sporting News.

 “It just shows you that all of Matt’s hard work is paying off for him now,” Tulane head coach Bob Toledo said. “He’s finally getting the fruits of his labor. He’s worked hard to achieve what he accomplished during the 2007 season, he’s receiving the benefits of that, and he is very, very deserving.

“Andrew is a guy who wasn’t even being recruited by Tulane prior to (the new coaching staff’s) arrival. We gave him an opportunity to play and he really took advantage of it. He did a great job of starting for us as a true freshman at a very difficult position.”

Forté becomes the first Tulane player to claim All-America honors since 2002 when cornerback Lynaris Elpheage claimed second-team recognition from CNNSI.com and CollegeFootballNews.com. He also becomes the first Green Wave student-athlete to claim a spot on the AP All-America squad since place kicker Brad Palazzo earned third-team honors in 1997.

Nierman is the seventh Freshman All-American in Tulane history and the fifth over the last 10 years, joining offensive tackle Corey Sewell (1998), running back Mewelde Moore (2000), tight end Bobby Hoover (2001) and wide receiver Jeremy Williams (2006).

A senior running back from Slidell, La., Forté set Tulane single-season records with 2,127 yards and 23 touchdowns on 361 carries while ranking second on the team with 32 receptions for another 282 yards through the air. His rushing total and 177.2 rushing yards per game average ranks second in the NCAA, and he also ranks second nationally in scoring with 11.7 points per game.

Along the way, Forté eclipsed the former Green Wave single-season rushing record of 1,421 set by Mewelde Moore in 2001. His 23 touchdowns in 2007 and 44 career scores are both tops in Tulane history.

(44 TDs, 1 2-point PAT) ranks third in school history and tops among non-kickers.

A two-time C-USA and Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week honoree, Forté posted five of Tulane’s Top 10 single-game rushing performances in 2007, including a C-USA record 342-yard effort on Oct. 20 at SMU which also stands as the top individual rushing performance by an NCAA Division I-Bowl Subdivision student-athlete this season. His five touchdowns against Southeastern Louisiana and Rice are also Tulane single-game records and tie a C-USA mark.

Nierman, a rookie from Harvey, La., and 2007 graduate of John Curtis Christian High, became the first Tulane true freshman offensive lineman to start every game since 1998 when Sewell started all 12 games during the Green Wave’s march to the C-USA title and Liberty Bowl Championship. As the starting right guard, he graded 88 percent for the season and recorded 112 knockdown blocks.

Nierman helped anchor a line that paved the way for Forté to become the first 2,000-yard rusher in the nation since the 2004 season and rank fifth in C-USA in sacks allowed (18).

The All-America honors are the latest round of awards to come in for the Tulane pair as Forté claimed first-team All C-USA honors by the coaches and media, as did Nierman for Freshman All C-USA.

While Nierman will return for the 2008 season with three years of eligibility remaining, Forté’s collegiate career has come to a close. He will play once more during the academic year, however, as Forté was selected to play in the 2008 Under Armour Senior Bowl on Jan. 26 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. Kickoff of that game is slated for 3 p.m. and will be televised live nationally on the NFL Network.