The Nebraska hat is back. And now it has a legacy all its own.

A little crumpled from shipping, Jim Murphy's old, red felt hat with a white "N" on the front arrived by mail at The Daily Collegian yesterday.

The 32-year-old hat was stolen after the Nebraska game on Sept. 14. A young man knocked the hat off of Murphy's head, scooped it up and then fled on foot, said Jim's son, Mike Murphy.

The hat was a treasured family memento that 61-year-old Jim Murphy said he had worn to every Nebraska game since 1970.

The hat appeared to be undamaged.

"That is amazing," Mike Murphy said when he heard the hat was returned. "I had pretty much given up hope because I thought it [the hat] was destroyed. This just showed us that there are quality people in State College."

The hat will be sent back to Jim Murphy, who lives in Norfolk, Neb.

"I bet that hat has seen some amazing things while it was at Penn State," Mike Murphy said.

No one is sure who stole the hat or why the person decided to return it after a two-week hiatus.

The hat was mailed to The Collegian stuffed into a shoebox-sized white box. Taped to the box was a blue "Settlin' the Score for '94" pin. Paw prints, Penn State insignias and "Who loves you baby?" were stamped on the package.

Mike "The Mailman" Herr said he remembers sending the package from the University Park post office.

"A guy came in and said that he had a surprise to send to The Collegian," Herr said. "I didn't have a clue that it was the hat. I just remember the box because it was such an oddly shaped box."

The unidentified man mentioned the Nebraska game, he said.

"Then he mentioned that he had just lost a bet," he added.

Herr wrote the address on the package because the unidentified man did not want anyone to recognize his handwriting, he said.

No name was listed with the return address. Residents of the address were not home yesterday to comment.

Enclosed with the hat was a short poem, apparently authored by the person who stole the hat.

"Forty-7, what were you thinking?" the poem begins. "Wearing that hat to our house -- you must have been drinking."

The poem then playfully warns Jim Murphy not to wear the hat again.

"Next time think twice about wearing that hat. You wear it again, and it ain't coming back."

The author of the poem apologizes for stealing the hat in the last line.

"You have my apology in an estranged way. But Saturday night was Joe Paterno's day."

The day after it was stolen, Mike Murphy posted a message on the Blue and White Illustrated message board (bwi.rivals.com/forum.asp) detailing the event.

Many Penn State fans and local residents contacted Mike Murphy after the tale of the stolen hat unfolded on the Blue and White Illustrated Web site.

"We had so many people contact us," Mike Murphy said. "One guy has gone out of his way and offered to have an exact replica made. He felt so bad that he wanted to make a new one for my dad."