Trojans Beat Incomplete Irish

So much talk about streaks, and in the end, the one that fell had lived quietly by itself for 36 years.

No one talked about it because no one imagined it would end.

But on a damp Saturday evening at the Coliseum, a USC defense shut out Notre Dame for the first time since 1962, and the unranked Trojans celebrated an 8-4 season--and their third victory in a row over Notre Dame--by beating the ninth-ranked Irish, 10-0, in front of a crowd of 90,069.

A Notre Dame team that lost its starting quarterback the week before could find no answer for USC’s unyielding defense.

“I tell you what, to go out as a senior, shutting out a team like Notre Dame,” USC defensive tackle Marc Matock said. “That was pretty much our main focus in the fourth quarter.”

Safety Rashard Cook, cornerback Daylon McCutcheon and linebacker Mark Cusano--and perhaps junior linebacker Chris Claiborne--walked off the Coliseum field for the last time with a zero showing on the visitors’ half of the scoreboard.

The Irish couldn’t even complete a pass in the first half.

Forced to run with neither Eric Chappell or Arnaz Battle able to replace Jarious Jackson, Notre Dame’s first completion didn’t come until 4:47 remained in the third quarter.

“Toward the end, that’s when the talk all started,” said Cook, who had two interceptions. “The game was a shutout, and we hadn’t had a shutout all year.”

Notre Dame hadn’t been shut out in more than a decade, not since a 1987 loss to Miami.

“I was thinking about winning,” Claiborne said. “I couldn’t care less if it was 10-7, as long as we win is all that matter.”

With Notre Dame clear that its chances of finishing 10-1 and playing in a major bowl game rested on defense, the Irish kept USC in check in the first half--the first scoreless half between these teams since 1981.

After fits and starts of their own, the Trojans finally broke through with 8:22 left in the third quarter, when freshman quarterback Carson Palmer carried the ball in from two yards out on a bootleg that completely fooled Notre Dame.

“All year long, we’ve run ‘blast’ up into the line,” USC Coach Paul Hackett said. “We had seen them come very hard off the edge on that. We tried the naked.”

It worked, and how.

“If a guy comes up and you lose eight yards, it doesn’t look so great,” Hackett said.

Palmer scored, and a player who felt jilted by Notre Dame when the school he once wanted to play for asked him to retake his entrance exams scored the only points USC needed.

That Notre Dame could have used Palmer on Saturday couldn’t have been more evident.

With Jackson out after partially tearing a knee ligament taking an intentional safety on the last play against Louisiana State last week, Notre Dame barely had a quarterback who could complete a pass.

Starter Chappell, a junior, tried three passes in the first quarter before he was pulled--and the only two that were caught were interceptions.

Freshman Battle came on and did better, but not a lot. He also threw two interceptions, completing seven of 19 passes for 94 yards.

Palmer--who threw for 188 yards, including 124 to R. Jay Soward--had his own reward.

“I’ve never looked back since I’ve been here,” he said. “Our defense was so dominant.”

Palmer scored the only touchdown of the game, but it was set up by tailback Chad Morton’s dazzling 21-yard run, highlighted by a spin to free himself of a safety and a slipped tackle to reach the Notre Dame seven-yard line.

“I have no idea where that came from. I cut back and saw the safety, and I just did some spin,” said Morton, who rushed for 128 yards in 27 carries, leaving him just shy of 1,000 for the season despite sitting out two games because of injuries.

“Oh, my. I saw that right from ground level,” Hackett said. “I saw the safety come up, and Chad went right around him.”

There was nothing like that for Notre Dame. Forced to rely on the run, the Irish had no run longer than 14 yards and finished with only 123 yards in 40 attempts. Morton outgained them on his own.

“You know, it’s hard to run when they basically know you’re going to run the football,” Notre Dame Coach Bob Davie said.

“They did the right things. They put their corners in man-to-man and brought their safeties up. To run against nine guys is extremely tough.

“They had their safeties up tight, and they took us out of our I-formation running game. We got to the point we were almost exclusively option football.”

Hackett smiled.

“Nothing like defense, is there? Just magnificent,” he said.

“If we get a shutout,” McCutcheon said, “there’s no way we’re going to lose.

“We knew they were going to have to run the football, and we knew if they ran the football they were not going to beat us.”

Palmer scored the game’s only touchdown, and a few minutes later, kicker Adam Abrams added a 23-yard field goal with 5:04 left for a 10-0 lead.

All that was left was to keep fending Notre Dame off, and Cook’s interception at the USC 13 with about 8 1/2 minutes left in the game helped take care of that.

The Trojans stopped Notre Dame cold on fourth and seven from the USC 31 as one of their last gasps, and in the closing minutes defended bomb after bomb.

“All these players know is you only get a few rare moments in your athletic career to be center stage, in a rivalry of this magnitude,” Hackett said. “ To have three hours at center stage against Notre Dame and be part of all that history, all the great tradition, all the great players . . . “

Cook understood.

“We had just lost to UCLA, to make that streak eight. We knew we had the streak against Notre Dame. Our seniors came here and we hadn’t won 13 years in a row. Our sophomore year we won. Our junior year we won. Our senior year, we won. It’s very special for our seniors. That’s something we can leave behind for other guys.”

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Blanking Irish

USC’s shutout of Notre Dame was its fifth, and fourth at home. It was also the Trojans’ largest margin of victory since a 20-3 decision in 1980. The Fighting Irish lead the series, 39-26-5 (including eight by shutout):

* 1998: USC 10-0 at Coliseum

* 1962: USC 25-0 at Coliseum

* 1938: USC 13-0 at Coliseum

* 1933: USC 19-0 at South Bend

* 1932: USC 13-0 at Coliseum