It was a big moment for James Harrison, a game that would define his career and lift his legacy to another stratosphere. Five sacks. Twelve tackles. One forced fumble. And, with the game still undecided, with the opponent 33 yards from the winning touchdown and 88 seconds remaining, Harrison came up with the exclamation point on his daunting performance.

He sacked the quarterback on third down, then sacked him again on fourth-and-17 to end the threat and give his team a 24-20 victory.

Only, in this instance, the quarterback was not Steve McNair, the opponent was not the Baltimore Ravens. It was Ben Roethlisberger and Miami (Ohio), and it was the final game of Harrison's college career.

"He single-handedly won that game," said Kent State tight ends coach A.J. Pratt. "Ask Ben Roethlisberger. James wasn't going to lose that last game."

"He tortured us pretty good, I will say that," said Roethlisberger, a redshirt freshman at the time.

"That's the only reason I'm here -- because of him," Harrison said, referring to Roethlisberger.

The Steelers are glad he is here, even though he almost wasn't.

Harrison, an undrafted free agent in 2002, was cut three times by the Steelers in two years, the last coming in 2003 when he made the 53-man roster, only to be dropped several days later in favor of safety Erik Flowers. Earlier that spring, he also was cut by the Ravens after they allocated him to the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe.

But on one glorious night at Heinz Field, he paid back both teams with one of most stunning defensive performances in National Football League history.

Five days ago, in a resounding, 38-7 victory against the Ravens, Harrison had 3 1/2 sacks, forced three fumbles, recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass. All but one sack came in the first half. Only three linebackers in team history had ever recorded more sacks in a game -- Chad Brown (4 1/2), Joey Porter (4) and Jerrol Williams (4).

Ironically, on this night, the only person possibly upstaging him was Roethlisberger, the very quarterback he tortured the last time he had one of these sensational performances. All Roethlisberger did was throw five touchdown passes, all in the first half, and post a perfect 158.3 rating.

Harrison's reaction?

"A lot of people want to talk to you, interview you, blah, blah, blah," he said. "It's not like I sat back and looked at it and admired it. I had a good game. That's as far as I took it."

There have been many great defensive performances over the years in the NFL, going back to Hall of Fame defensive tackle Joe Greene recording five sacks, blocking a field goal, forcing a fumble and recovering a fumble in a 9-3 victory Dec. 10, 1972, in Houston.

But, for production and diversity, it might be difficult to match Harrison's performance. The only thing he did not do was score a touchdown.

"Nine years in the league, I've never seen anything like that," said defensive end Aaron Smith, who watched the performance from the sideline because of a knee injury. "I've seen guys rack up the sacks, rack up the interceptions, but I've never seen anyone rack up the sacks, rack up the fumbles, the recoveries, the interceptions. It was an unreal performance."

Now he gets to face the Cleveland Browns (5-3), another team against whom he has had unreal performances. They were his favorite team growing up in Akron, Ohio, the youngest of 14 children, and his hero was former quarterback Bernie Kosar.

"My guy ... Ber-nie Ko-sar," Harrison said, giving it his best Howard Cosell impersonation. He said he cried when the Browns twice had heartbreaking playoff defeats to John Elway and the Denver Broncos and was disappointed when the Browns moved to Baltimore. So he switched his allegiance to the next closest team, the Steelers.

His road to Pittsburgh was not always smooth.

He went to three high schools because of what John Hibian, his former athletic director-turned-principal at Coventry High School, called "stupid little things;" was suspended for two games his senior year because he shot a BB gun in the locker room and got off with a fine rather than be sentenced to six months in prison for felonious assault; had scholarship offers to Nebraska and Notre Dame rebuffed because he said he "messed some things up" his senior year; didn't always convince his coaches at Kent State he was trying his hardest on the practice field; and was one phone call away from giving up on a career as a professional football player and going back to school to "do something else."

"Was it apparent he would be a professional athlete? I'd have to say no," Hibian said. "It's that his focus wasn't always on what it should be. He wasn't focused on the things that would make you believe he was a for-sure NFL prospect.

"I was looking at one of the finest athletes the school ever had. I thought if he could possibly get focused, he would have a successful college career."

At Kent State, Harrison was a first team Mid-American Conference selection his senior season, finishing with a conference-high 15 sacks and ranking second with 20 tackles for losses.

"James was a guy who kept to himself on the football field," said Kent State assistant coach Scott Booker, a Penn Hills native who played three seasons with Harrison in college. "He was very intense, very competitive. He's a great teammate when he's on your side, but he puts some fear in the other team, even on the practice field."

And so it is with the Steelers.

Harrison almost never made it to this position -- a starter at right outside linebacker for the departed Joey Porter, a player who ranks fourth in the American Football Conference with 6 sacks after eight games.

But, the Steelers called him back July 26, 2004, and asked him to report to training camp as a replacement for linebacker Clark Haggans, who broke his hand lifting weights. Harrison has never left.

Since then, he can be found leaping over tacklers on an interception return in San Diego, body-slamming a wayward fan in Cleveland, putting on one of the most stunning defensive performances in Steelers history while most of the greatest players in franchise history were in attendance.

"The guy, ever since he came in here, even from his rookie year, he was not afraid of anyone or intimidated by anyone," said defensive end Brett Keisel, a seventh-round draft choice. "You get some guys from smaller schools, you step in the locker room, and it's kind of like your eyes pop out. Then, you throw in our blitz packages and your head starts to spin. But he's just a beast, and he never stops."

Hibian, the high-school principal, has noticed a change in the person who transferred to Coventry for his final two years after attending Archbishop Hoban for 1 1/2 years and Buchtel High School for part of a year.

"There is a different air about him when he comes back now," he said. "I think he gets it. I see him as a young man now. Ultimately, he has become a mature young man."

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NOTES -- Wide receiver Santonio Holmes (hamstring) returned to practice and is expected to start against the Browns. Safety Ryan Clark (spleen) and tight end Jerame Tuman (back) have not practiced and will not play.