Spencer Needn’t Wait for Redemption : Chargers: He barely had time to brood over his critical fumble before coming back into the game to score the winning touchdown.

Tim Spencer was sure that he had felt worse before on the football field, but at that particular moment Sunday night, he really couldn’t recall any others.

Not at Ohio State. Not while playing at Chicago, Arizona or Memphis of the United States Football League. Not during his 4 1/2-year career for the Chargers.

“I mean, I was down, real down,” he said. “It was one of the most helpless feelings I’ve ever had.

Spencer had just run 11 yards toward the end zone, bouncing off defenders and breaking tackles. And just when he stuck his arm out to put the ball over the goal line, looking toward the referee to watch him throw his hands up in the air, wouldn’t you know that someone would come in and spoil the fun. Raider safety Mike Harden slapped the ball away from Spencer and then recovered the fumble at the one-foot line.

Goodby touchdown.

Goodby Charger lead.

Goodby Spencer?

The crowd became silent. Spencer trudged off to the bench. And one by one, his teammates came over to console him.

“If I could,” Spencer said, “I would have crawled under the bench and hid.”

Who could blame him? Here was a guy who had been standing on the sideline the entire game until Charger Coach Dan Henning finally called upon him to enter the game with just one minute 20 seconds left in the third quarter. And when he comes in, what does he do but cough up the ball?

To make matters worse, this was a game that was being televised nationally. So when Spencer fumbles and looks like a man who had just lost his winning lottery ticket, guess where the sideline camera focused.

It wasn’t the time you want to be smiling in front of the camera and be saying, “Hi, Mom.”

“I thought the worst,” Spencer said. “I thought once I fumbled, I’d be sitting on this bench the rest of the season.”

Well, a funny thing happened. Not only did the Chargers stop the Raiders from obtaining a first down, but on fourth down, Ken Woodard blew through the line and blocked Jeff Gossett’s punt.

Chargers’ ball on the Raider 23.

And then came the shocker.

“Spencer, you’re back in there.”

“Once I heard that,” Spencer said, “I said to myself, ‘Well, friend, it’s now or never. Here’s your opportunity.’

“ ‘Don’t mess up.’ ”

Quarterback Jim McMahon, not about to let Spencer dwell another moment on his blunder, went to him on the first play: eight yards on a screen pass.

Second and two from the 15: Spencer over left tackle for a four-yard gain and a first down.

First and 10 from the 11: Spencer up the middle for six yards.

Second down from the five: Spencer up the middle, into the end zone.

Touchdown.

Chargers 14, Raiders 12.

Eight minutes 48 seconds were still remaining.

The Raiders drove to the Charger 41, but after a holding penalty and a sack, they were forced to punt with 4:21 remaining.

“When we went back on offense,” guard David Richards said, “We knew it was the biggest offensive series of the season. We had to run out the clock. We didn’t want to make the defense go back out there.”

The Chargers got a first down on Anthony Allen’s 11-yard catch on third and six but needed one more first down to prevent the need for another punt.

Well, you know the Chargers. Just when the sellout crowd was smelling victory over their hated rivals, a holding penalty pushed the ball back to their own 25. They needed 20 yards for a first down, and the Raiders still had a timeout and the two-minute warning left to stop the clock.

It was Spencer for three yards. It was Spencer again for 11. Now, on third and six at their own 39 with two minutes left, the Chargers had a decision to make.

They could risk a pass, but an incompletion would stop the clock. They could play it safe and keep the ball on the ground, but if they were short, they’d have to punt.

And considering that regular long-snapper Chris Gannon had left the game in the first quarter with a bruised right knee and that backup Courtney Hall had already had botched one snap and almost another, it hardly was a comforting feeling.

“When it’s third and six and the coach calls for a rush up the middle,” Richards said, “he’s saying to the line, ‘Redeem yourself.’ ”

So if the offensive line was getting that impression with the play call, you can just imagine what was going through Spencer’s mind when it was called for him.

“Everyone was saying this was the biggest play of the year,” Spencer said, “and I was going to do everything in my power to make it work.

Spencer took the handoff from McMahon, bounced off a couple of defenders and bullied his way nine yards to the 48.

He looked across the field at the down marker, saw that he was three yards past the first-down mark, and his face broke into an expansive grin.

“You know,” he said, “I didn’t know a first down could feel so good.”