Irish Lose Tough One

In recent years, the University of Southern California football team has had Notre Dame in their back pockets. USC has dominated play over the last few meetings, but this year things were different.

Notre Dame played well from the start of today's game, and even tied the game at 7-7 by the end of the first quarter.

But soon things began to go USC's way, such as some generous calls from the refs (what a surprise, you say?), and suddenly, after a couple of field goals, the Trojans held a 13-7 lead by halftime.

The two teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter to make it a respectable-looking 20-14 affair, but USC scored again to make it 27-14 with less than three minutes left in the period.

Southern Cal opened the fourth with a touchdown to extend its lead to 34-14, and it looked as though the Irish were done.

But Notre Dame showed a lot of character in this game, and they mounted a comeback, led by quarterback Jimmy Claussen.

Just two minutes after the Trojans' score, Claussen dove into the end zone to pull the Irish to within 34-20, and with 11:13 remaining, you had to wonder if Notre Dame was actually going ot make a game out of it.

They did, as the defense stiffened after yielding the touchdown that put USC at 34 points, and with 7:28 left, Claussen hit Golden Tate with a 15-yard pass to make it 34-27.

The game ended in quite dramatic fashion, as Notre Dame was in position to tie the game in the final minute with the ball in the Trojans' red zone, and after two incomplete passes by Claussen, the Fighting Irish were down to their final play.

Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weiss again put the ball in the hands of his quarterback, but again the pass was incomplete. Everyone thought that the game was over, but Weiss argued to the refs that there should have been one second left on the clock. After the play was reviewed, the refs agreed with Weiss, and Notre Dame had one last chance. On the final play, Notre Dame's wide receiver fell down in the end zone, the pass fell wide, time expired and USC escaped with the win.

So, the Irish didn't beat USC again, but at least this time they had an opportunity to win in the end and have nothing to be ashamed of. And with this showing today, they will deserve a little more respect.