Bush and the New Orleans Saints faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to open the 2008 season. With Deuce McAllister out due to injury, Bush started the game. He showed great improvement early in the season, particularly during Week 3 against the Denver Broncos, in which he had 18 carries for 73 yards and two touchdowns, one touchdown that included a run up the middle, cutting back to the outside for 23 yards. He added a second touchdown on a six-yard swing pass from Drew Brees near the goal line. Bush ended the game with eleven receptions for 75 yards and one receiving touchdown. Since he came into the league, no running back has caught more passes out of the backfield than Bush, who collected 171 receptions in his first two years. On October 6, in a home game against the Minnesota Vikings, he returned two punts for touchdowns and nearly had a third, tying an NFL record for single-game punt returns for touchdowns and becoming the 12th player to do so. In a home game against the Oakland Raiders on October 12, Bush tied the NFL record for fastest time to his 200th catch, doing so in only 34 games.