• By SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Dec 1, 2008 - UPDATED: 6:48 a..m.

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TAMPA, Fla. — For the first time since tearing the meniscus in his left knee on Oct. 19 and having surgery one day later, New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush was on the field Sunday.

But after being sidelined for four games, Bush didn’t have much of an impact on the Saints’ offense or return game in a 23-20 loss to the Tampa Bay Bucs. He started the game as a slot receiver and caught a 2-yard pass from Drew Brees on the first play from scrimmage.

Bush had three carries for zero yards and caught five passes for 32 yards. He returned two punts for minus-16 yards, however, and was kept on the sideline late in the game by coach Sean Payton.

“I thought it was up and down, he struggled in punt return and he had a couple of drops,” Payton said. “We just have to keep getting the rust off and getting him back acclimated to game speed, and he’ll be fine.”

Bush looked a little tentative on a wet field, but said it wasn’t bad.

“I felt kind of rusty, that’s about it,” he said. “It (the field conditions) didn’t affect me at all.”

It didn’t feel good because his team lost, but wide receiver Lance Moore set a club record when he caught a touchdown pass in his fifth straight game.

Moore set the mark with a 13-yard catch from Brees with 33 seconds remaining in the first half, giving the Saints a 10-6 halftime lead.

“I can’t be worried about what I did individually if the team lost,” said Moore, who leads the team with eight TD catches this season.

Rookie kicker Garrett Hartley booted field goals of 47 and 43 yards in difficult conditions to remain perfect since being signed by the team before their Nov. 9 game at Atlanta. His 47-yard shot in the first quarter was the longest of his career.

Hartley, the Saints’ third kicker this season, is now 8-of-8 in field goals and 13-of-13 on extra points.