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ARLINGTON – Bright sunshine and 80-degree temperatures greeted Joe Montana on his induction into the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

No need for makeshift home remedies or ice-removal equipment.

Much has changed since Montana led Notre Dame to a 35-34 win over Houston in 1979 amid ice and bitter cold.

The memories remain, including that of Montana finishing a 22-point comeback with a touchdown pass to fellow Hall of Fame inductee Kris Haines as time expired. Montana battled a virus as well as the elements. Chicken soup at halftime was credited with his quick recovery.

"When you played in a cold-weather game, you could have either chicken broth or beef broth," Montana said. "I took chicken. Otherwise, it would have been called the Beef Bowl."

Montana and Haines were joined in the Hall of Fame class by former Texas A&M and Mississippi State coach Jackie Sherrill, Alabama nose guard Warren Lyles, Texas wingback Phil Harris and the late Wilbur Evans, a former Cotton Bowl Athletic Association executive director.

Evans' grandson, Chris, read a tribute. Lyles may have set a record for the shortest acceptance speech. Sherrill then used all the extra time during his talk, even predicting that the Cotton Bowl could eventually join the BCS rotation.

Yet Montana was the featured attraction, a four-time Super Bowl champion and one of the best late-game quarterbacks ever. He called it his first major honor from his time at Notre Dame.

"I didn't have a very stellar college career," Montana said.

Nor were scouts impressed by the skinny kid with the average arm. San Francisco finally took him in the third round. He still harbors doubts about NFL draft evaluations.

"They're trying to measure height and weight and strength," Montana said. "They try to bench press 225 pounds. I might not have been able to get it off my chest."

Maybe that's why Montana likes players who have a few question marks, like Texas quarterback Colt McCoy.

"I think it's hard, when you look at guys like Colt," Montana said. "All he does is win. What do you do? ... I see good things for him."

Coming from Montana, that constitutes high praise. Haines remembers Montana's intangibles when Notre Dame trailed Houston.

"We had perseverance. We had a resiliency," Haines said. "And one thing missing from other teams was we had Joe Montana. There was something about when Joe got in the huddle, you started thinking comeback."

Some of Montana's greatest moments came against the Cowboys, like his touchdown pass to Dwight Clark in 1982.

Even as Montana stood at Cowboys Stadium, with the video board as a backdrop, he couldn't resist mentioning another sports facility.

He had been given a small piece taken from Texas Stadium's buttresses, courtesy of the Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Let's just say that he experienced different feelings Sunday morning than Jerry Jones and many ex-Cowboys.

"There was no one happier when they blew up that building down the road than me," Montana said to laughs.

Asked about the comment later, Montana elaborated: "I was enjoying watching it coming down. There were some bad memories in that place, not only for me but the 49ers."