Stephen G. Peterson took over leadership of the band in 1987. During his tenure, the band was awarded the 1992 Sudler Trophy. In the 1995 NCAA football season, Northwestern's football team won the Big Ten Championship, earning themselves and NUMB a berth in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1949. To mark the occasion, NUMB ordered new uniforms for the Rose Bowl game. Peterson and Paynter both accompanied the band to Southern California. NUMB played a halftime show consisting of popular opera compositions, including the Overture to William Tell, and Paynter led the band during its performances of the Northwestern Alma Mater. Paynter died on February 4, 1996, just more than a month after conducting the band at the Rose Bowl. His Northwestern life was bookended by the school's only two Rose Bowl appearances (he was an NU marching band member in 1949).