In Bowling Green,Ohio,colleges often use live animals as mascots to project strength and energize crowds during football games.Bowling Green State University follows this tradition—though their spirited guide leans more toward the cuddly than the fierce.

Pudge,a three-year-old Persian cat,appears at every home game.His very presence seems to charm the team’s devoted supporters.Players at Bowling Green say Pudge has turned into a genuine sensation.

“There are thousands of people who come just to see a cat,”one athlete told CBS News.

Pudge belongs to George Carlson,who also serves as the team’s long snapper.

“People adore him,and honestly,I can’t blame them—I love him too,”Carlson remarked to CBS News.

Carlson first brought Pudge into the locker room earlier this season,at a time when team morale was low due to a series of injuries.He felt what the squad needed was a cat.Carlson had already seen Pudge work small wonders in his own life.

“He’s played a really meaningful role for me,”Carlson said.

Last year,Carlson lost his mother,Cristen,to ovarian cancer.

“It was really hard,especially living alone in an apartment,”he recalled.“I’d get down sometimes and could spiral pretty easily.But coming home to this funny-looking,slightly odd cat…it helped so much.I honestly think the whole process would’ve been harder without him.”

It was that belief in the comfort of a purr that led Carlson to introduce Pudge to the team—and now to a growing fanbase.

Bowling Green’s unexpected feline mascot is drawing a devoted following.The university reports that home game attendance has risen by nearly 60%this season—the biggest jump of any NCAA Division I football program in the country.

Part of the credit surely goes to the long snapper,and his long-napped companion,who together have given this community a new reason to cheer.