Haseeb Hameed led from the front with an unbeaten hundred after Notts were asked to follow-on on the third day at Chelmsford.
Joe Clarke partnered the Notts skipper, adding 62 of his own from 124 balls as the visitors concluded 184 runs in arrears of Essex.
Jamie Porter had earlier claimed five first-innings wickets, and Simon Harmer four, as the visitors were dismissed for 98 replying to host’s 457.
The Nottinghamshire captain then shared stands of 31 with Ben Slater before the 37-over stand with Clarke to take the contest into the final day.
It took the hosts seven overs to break their breakthrough in the morning session, with Harmer trapping Freddie McCann leg before with his first ball bowled of the day.
Only one had been added when Slater, who top scored with 29, then edged Harmer to slip, before Clarke and Jack Haynes both departed with the score on 63, lbw to Porter and Haynes respectively.
After a brief cameo featuring three welcome boundaries, Kyle Verreynne drove Porter to cover and Lyndon James was caught impressively by Micheal Pepper off the same bowler, inside edging low to the wicketkeeper’s left.
And Notts’ final three wickets fell for three runs as Luke Fletcher and Patterson-White became Porter’s fourth and fifth victims - both trapped adjacent - before Lord turned Harmer to short-leg with Notts on 93.
After Hameed and Slater negotiated the one over before lunch, the pair saw off another 12 before the latter fell victim to a ball which turned sharply past his edge from Harmer.
Freddie McCann departed for four six overs later, before Clarke and Hameed stunted the hosts’ momentum.
Hameed cracked six fours en route to a half-century from 70 balls, with rain then taking 14 overs from the day’s allocation.
He and Clarke appeared untroubled upon resumption, reaching their century partnership from 175 deliveries.
In the dying embers, the Notts skipper nudged into the off-side and scampered a single to reach his third-century of the season having reached 1000 runs for the campaign shortly before.