The well wishes P.J. Fleck has received since winning the Little Brown Jug are coming out of the woodwork — or the bushes, anyway.

Fleck told the Pioneer Press he received more text messages after beating Michigan, 20-14, on Saturday than after any other big win in his nine-plus years at Minnesota. That includes claiming Floyd of Rosedale from Iowa in 2023, and taking Paul Bunyan’s Axe from Wisconsin four of the past five meetings.

On his short walk from the Larson Football Performance Center to the Bierman building for his Monday press conference, a gardener briefly paused his fall cleanup in the courtyard.

“He popped out of the bushes and (said), “Coach, what a win! 1977 — that’s a long time ago,’ ” Fleck shared. “That was what he said, and (he) went right back to work.”

The Gophers anticipate a stream of snail-mail letters from fans of older generations, the ones most likely to have been in Memorial Stadium when Minnesota last beat the Wolverines in Minneapolis in 1977.

That October, No. 1-ranked Michigan was 5-0. and had not been shut out in 112 games, before Minnesota’s comprehensive 16-0 win.

“The Gophers’ defense dominated, picking off Rick Leach twice, recovering three fumbles and holding Michigan to four first downs rushing,” wrote Rick Moore in the book “University of Minnesota Football Vault.”

“Marion Barber’s 3-yard touchdown run and Paul Rogind’s three field goals were more than enough offense.”

The grandson of Butch Nash, a former Gophers football player (1936-38) and longtime assistant to eight different coaches, emailed a message to the U for it to be passed on to Fleck. Author Harvey Mackay also reached out to Fleck.

But it was the text messages that kept popping up on Fleck’s iPhone in the past few days, many from numbers he didn’t have saved as contacts, that have overwhelmed the coach.

“Some of them, I have no idea who it is. But everybody gets a message back — that’s for sure,” Fleck said.

That 1977 Gophers team improved to 5-2 with the Michigan win and was ranked 16th the following week, but followed with losses to Indiana and Michigan State to zap the buzz around a team that finished 7-5 overall and 4-4 in Big Ten play.

The current Gophers team needs to avoid a similar letdown amid a 4-1 start that includes a 2-0 record in Big Ten play for the first time since 2019.

Fleck often talks about having to “fight human nature,” and one example would be a natural letdown after a big win, but doesn’t believe it applies this week.

Purdue (2-3, 1-1) beat FCS-level Indiana State in the season opener, lost to Wake Forest in double overtime before getting beat 52-38 by UCLA and 49-10 by No. 3 Notre Dame.

The Boilermakers then bounced back with a 24-17 win at Illinois last weekend.

“I don’t know if it’s (fighting) human nature,” Fleck said. “Purdue is coming off a big win against Illinois; we’re coming off a big win against (Michigan). The Big Ten is full of either big wins or hard losses. There is no small win in the Big Ten anymore, that’s the best way I can describe it to you. We get a guaranteed seven (games) left.”