Trojans duck final punch from Fighting Irish

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jimmy Clausen and Notre Dame pushed Southern California to the very last second, showing the Fighting Irish could go toe-to-toe with their fiercest rival.

But beating the Trojans, well, Charlie Weis' team still hasn't figured out how do to that.

Clausen threw three incomplete passes into the end zone in the closing seconds, and No. 6 USC held on Saturday for a 34-27 victory, its eighth straight win against Notre Dame.

"When it came right down to it, we found ways to make plays," USC coach Pete Carroll said.

Notre Dame's streak of last-minute victories ended at three, but the Irish (4-2) at least showed they could compete with USC.

"I think anyone that doesn't realize the fight that's in the Fighting Irish is missing the boat. It's evident if you watch the last five games. Every week it's the same thing," Weis said. "This team's a bunch of fighters. I'm proud of the fight. I'm disappointed with the loss, it's never OK to lose. But they're a bunch of fighters."

USC had dominated Notre Dame the past three seasons and led 34-14 in the fourth quarter on Saturday. The Fighting Irish seemed on their way to the type of lopsided loss that would have their supporters grumbling about Weis again.

Instead, Clausen and the Irish rallied back. But they couldn't score into the same end zone where the Trojans (5-1) famously scored four years ago on the Bush Push, which gave Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and USC a 34-31 victory in Weis' first season.

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, thinking the game was over, the Trojans started celebrating.

Clausen and USC quarterback Matt Barkley, pals from southern California, even exchanged what they thought was a post-game handshake.

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

"Coming up short, one second to go, it's heartbreaking," Clausen said.

Barkley was 19-for-29 for 380 yards and two touchdowns to Damian Williams, who had four catches for 108 yards. Anthony McCoy had five catches for 153 yards.

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.