Matt Bernstein lived every fullback’s dream Saturday against Penn State.

With Wisconsin’s Booker Stanley suffering from turf-toe and Jamil Walker playing with an aggravated shoulder injury, UW offensive coordinator Brian White needed to inject his offense with some personality and effectiveness.

With just 13 first-half rushing yards as a team, White turned to his blue-collar blocking back at halftime to carry out the game for the Badgers. Bernstein didn’t disappoint, rushing for an astounding 123 yards on 27 carries while grinding out the clock and a 16-3 Wisconsin victory.

“I just couldn’t have been prouder of the way he played,” White said after the game. “He was our difference-maker on offense. He really got the crowd into the game. He was fun to watch.”

“Coach White came in there (at halftime) and said, ‘Bernie you’re up.’ And I’m like, ‘Up for what? I’m playing fullback.’ And he’s like, ‘tailback.’ And I was just shocked,” Bernstein said. “I went right over to (backup fullback) Greg Root and I’m like, ‘Greg, right now, you and me. It’s on us now. Let’s win this game.’ He did a great job and the O-line pushed people around out there. They opened up holes. I’m not a fast guy, but they were holding their blocks really well.”

Bernstein carried the ball 11 times on the Badgers’ first drive of the second half for 62 yards. Culminating in a Badger field goal, Bernstein’s rushing enabled Wisconsin to grind nearly eight minutes off the clock and keep Penn State’s offense off the field. The 270-pound blocker-turned-tailback hit his holes well and bowled over the opposition. When he hit the outside, he displayed some rare speed and agility, even taking to the air to evade tacklers.

“It’s probably going to make a lot of people laugh,” Bernstein said about his leaping ability. “It’s just one of those moves when you’ve got a little guy out there and little guys don’t really go high, they go low. That’s the first thing I thought about and I just jumped up there and I was a lot higher than I thought because I fell right after I got down.”

Truth be told, Bernstein would not have been able to play if the game had not been scheduled with a later start time. A devout follower of the Jewish faith, Saturday’s game against Penn State coincided with the holiest date on the Jewish calendar — Yom Kippur. If the game had started at 11, Bernstein would’ve sat out.

“In life, your religion comes first and it would’ve been real disappointing for me not to play,” Bernstein said. “But once my dad told me a five o’clock (start), I was so happy because I could play.”

In accordance with tradition, Bernstein fasted from sundown Friday to sunset Saturday. He went to temple in the morning with his family, where he and his brother carried the torah. He arrived at Camp Randall shortly thereafter, where he chose not to participate in pre-game warm-ups. At 5 p.m., with the sun setting, he ate some turkey and orange slices.

“It’s been a tough day, but when game time rolls around, you know I’m happy it was at five o’clock so I could play,” Bernstein said. “You don’t eat, you don’t drink — there’s no excuses.”

Bernstein admittedly never thought he’d get the chance to play tailback at UW despite his success at the position in high school. As a senior at Edgemont High in Scarsdale, N.Y., Bernstein ran for 2,002 yards and scored 37 touchdowns. Throughout his four-year high school career, Bernstein scored an amazing 504 points, the third-highest in New York state prep history.

Bernstein came to Madison in 2001, where he was recruited as a fullback and was redshirted. Having spent most of his playing career to that point as a tailback, Bernstein was a raw talent whose blocking ability needed some extensive work.

“I had no idea how to block at all (coming out of high school),” he admits. “We joke around now because it’s funny, but Coach White tells me that I was probably the worst fullback he’s ever had. Just from his coaching and Coach Hueber’s coaching, Coach Alvarez’s coaching — they can turn talent into straightness. They turn people fundamentally sound. They talk about being physical all the time and that’s probably what they saw in me, a physical back. They got me here and just turned me into a blocker.”

A quick learner, Bernstein has developed into one of the best fullbacks in the Big Ten, if not the entire nation. He takes pride in his blocking, and despite his success against Penn State, he’s anxious to get Anthony Davis back so he can return to playing fullback full time.

“Hopefully [Davis is] a 100 percent next week, because I can’t run anymore,” Bernstein said. “When he comes back we’re going to be a different team. It’s such an honor to block for him. When people ask what’s (my) best game, I tell them when he ran for 300 yards in the Minnesota game two years ago. You can’t beat that…it just feels great to block for a guy who’s probably the greatest running back in the nation.”

The consummate teammate, Bernstein feels a deep commitment to the fullback position. He doesn’t read too much into his performance Saturday and doesn’t take it as any indication he’ll get more time at tailback, though Alvarez and White didn’t rule out the possibility.

“I still have to get better at being a fullback,” Bernstein said. “There’s some blocks I missed, some reads I didn’t make. Those things you’ve got to correct first.”

For Saturday at least, Bernstein was the Badgers’ hero. For a fullback who spends most of his time in the trenches minding his time with the dirty work, Saturday presented an opportunity that could not have worked out any better. But rather than sit on his own accomplishments, Bernstein was just as enthralled that his promotion gave backup Greg Root the opportunity to play.

“He was so excited for me,” Bernstein said. “I was excited too because I love Greg — my good friend. For him to play, it’s just awesome. I love when we get up by a lot of points and I see him go in and he loves it to. [Saturday] was his debut and I think he played great.”

Root held the greatest sentiments for his teammate, adding to the near-folklore status of Bernstein’s performance against Penn State.

“He already is a hero, man,” Root said. “He’s the ‘Hebrew Hammer’.”