Quarterback Daunte Culpepper, in comeback fashion, led the Sacramento Mountain Lions to victory over the Florida Tuskers 21-17 on Thursday night.

Culpepper made a memorable return to the Citrus Bowl in front of 10,066 fans, which was where he made a name for himself in college at the University of Central Florida. Culpepper was 31-49 for 259 yards while throwing for one touchdown and running for another with 1 minute 55 seconds to go in the game.

Other than Culpepper’s final touchdown drive, the defense was what kept Sacramento in the game, holding the Tuskers to just 179 total offensive yards. Andrew Sendeio recovered two fumbles and caught an interception, stopping two Florida scoring drives. Maurice Crum sacked Florida quarterback Brooks Bollinger for a third-quarter safety.

Sacramento’s first lead of the game came on a Fabrizio Scaccia 27-yard field goal with 11:28 after a failed fake punt by Florida that gave the Mountain Lions the ball at the Florida 23 yard line.

Scaccia added three more points with 33 seconds left on a 39-yard field goal after Marcus McCauley picked off Tuskers backup Chris Griesen.

The victory snaps a three-game losing streak for Sacramento who is 2-3 and is the second victory of the season over the Tuskers who are also 2-3.

Sacramento will play host to Hartford on Oct. 30 at Hornet stadium at 8 p.m. The Mountain Lions are looking to avenge a 27-10 loss to Hartford that came on the opening game of the season.

Brad Schmidt can be reached at [email protected]