AUSTIN (KXAN) — An opossum made an appearance during the Texas Tech and Texas Christian football game where it ran across the field at Jones Stadium in Lubbock on Thursday.

The little one was wrangled by stadium authorities before reaching the 20-yard line.

Texas Tech University President Lawrence Schovanec was seen petting the marsupial earlier on Friday telling KXAN he is used to seeing them around his home.

“This will sound kind of weird, but there are a lot of opossums in our neighborhood and I’ve always fed them. I think when the creature is that homely and unattractive someone needs to love it,” he said. “My wife thought it was disgusting and my son said ‘I hope you sanitize your hands.’ I did I wash them.”

The animal’s special appearance turned out to be good luck for the Red Raiders who defeated TCU 35 to 28.