Trojans hold off the Irish as rally falls short

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Jimmy Clausen threw three incomplete passes into the end zone in the closing seconds as No. 6 Southern California held on for a 34-27 victory and its eighth straight win against No. 25 Notre Dame yesterday.

On Clausen's first pass into the end zone, Kyle Rudolph made a juggling catch but was out of bounds. The second was knocked down by Josh Pinkard, and the Trojans (5-1) started celebrating, thinking the game was over.

Clausen and USC quarterback Matt Barkley, pals from Southern California, even exchanged what they thought was a postgame handshake.

But the officials ruled there was one second left. On the final play, Clausen fired to Duval Kamara, who slipped and couldn't get a hand on it.

Barkley was 19 for 29 for 380 yards and two touchdowns to Damian Williams.

The Trojans appeared to be on the verge of blowing the game open when Joe McKnight dove in for a TD early in the fourth quarter.

But the Irish closed to 34-27 midway through the fourth on a 2-yard TD run by Clausen and a 15-yard TD pass from Clausen to Golden Tate after an interception by Irish cornerback Gary Gray.

Clausen was 24 of 43 passes for 260 yards and two touchdown passes while facing a strong USC pass rush. He threw the ball away five times and was sacked five times. And in the end, he gave Notre Dame a chance.

Tate had eight catches for 117 yards. The Irish also got a 25-yard completion on a faked field goal attempt by holder Eric Maust that set up another touchdown.

The Irish were aided in their final drive by a couple of penalties by USC. Robby Parris caught a 13-yard pass on fourth down to the USC 16, but all-American Taylor Mays was called for a personal foul on the hit to Parris. That got the ball to the 8. Then Malik Jackson was called two plays later for roughing the passer, placing the ball on the 4.

But Notre Dame couldn't get the game to overtime, and USC (5-1) celebrated its 10th straight win against a ranked opponent. The Irish (4-2) lost their seventh straight to a top-10 team, matching the longest streak in school history set from 1984 to 1986.