Toronto ? Connecticut’s Donald Brown showed he has nothing left to prove at the college level.

Brown ran for a career-best 261 yards in his final college game, helping the fumble-prone Huskies overcome a mistake-filled first half and defeat Buffalo, 38-20, in the International Bowl on Saturday.

After becoming the 14th player in major-college history to run for 2,000 yards in a season, the junior running back broke the bad news to UConn fans.

“OK, tell them, bud,” coach Randy Edsall said, slapping Brown on the back at the postgame interview table.

“I’m not coming back,” Brown said. “I’m going to pursue the NFL.”

He then apologized for saying three weeks ago that he planned to return to Connecticut for his senior season.

The nation’s leading rusher said he made the commitment to return to stop speculation and negate a potential distraction for his team heading into the game at Toronto.

“I apologize for quote, unquote lying, but I did it to protect my team,” Brown said. “They mean the world to me, so I’m willing to put my neck on the line for them.”

He proved that in the first half against the Bulls, when he had 208 yards rushing — six short of matching a career best — and kept the Huskies in the game. UConn turned the ball over five times in the first 30 minutes.

Brown scored on a 45-yard run and then added a career-best 75-yarder to set up quarterback Tyler Lorenzen’s touchdown run.

Lorenzen then put the Huskies ahead for good 10 minutes into the third quarter by completing his first pass, a four-yarder to tight end Steve Brouse for a 24-20 lead. In overcoming a 20-10 deficit, the Huskies (8-5) won their second of three bowl appearances since joining the Big East in 2004.

The Mid-American champion Bulls (8-6) had their breakout season under coach Turner Gill end with a loss in their bowl debut. Buffalo scored all its points off turnovers.

Gill wasn’t too disappointed for a team that registered its first winning season since 1996 and orchestrated one of the most monumental turnarounds in college football. The Bulls were 10-69 in seven seasons prior to Gill’s arrival three years ago.

“Obviously, we didn’t come out on the right end of it, but I’m still going to have a smile on my face. I’m so proud of this football team,” Gill said. “This isn’t going to be a one-year wonder.”