On a Tip, CSUN Falls by a Point : College football: Matadors’ playoff hopes are in limbo after fluke two-point conversion lifts Cal State Long Beach, 25-24.

It is surely little consolation to Cal State Northridge, but the Matadors have earned one man’s support in their quest to earn a berth in the Division II football playoffs.

That man is Coach George Allen of Cal State Long Beach, whose team squeaked past the Matadors, 25-24, Saturday in a nonconference game before a crowd of 3,090 at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.

Unfortunately for Northridge, Allen doesn’t get to vote today when an NCAA national committee sits down to decide whether the Matadors and their 7-3 record belong in the 16-team playoff field.

However, if anyone should happen to call and ask . . .

As he met CSUN Coach Bob Burt on the field after the 49ers had won by the slimmest of margins, Allen said, “I hope they call me to see, because you should be in the playoffs.”

There would be no question of that had Long Beach (5-5) not scored on a two-point conversion with 1 minute 17 seconds left.

And it wasn’t just that the 49ers converted. It was the way they converted.

Clayton Bamberg, CSUN’s safety, probably will remember it for quite a while. He got a hand on the pass thrown by Long Beach quarterback Todd Studer, but instead of batting the ball down he tipped it up and it landed in the arms of 49er receiver Mark Seay in the corner of the end zone.

“It’s a difference of inches,” Burt said. “If he tips the ball down, we win the game.”

Instead, Northridge will have to wait until today to see if the NCAA dares invite a team with three losses--although only one of them came against a Division II team.

The Matadors were ranked 13th in this week’s Division II poll, giving them small margin for error.

Northridge received an assist Saturday night from UC Davis, which defeated 16th-ranked Sonoma State, 12-7.

Northridge came frustratingly close to deciding its own fate. After Long Beach scored 14 unanswered points in the third quarter to go ahead, 17- 10, the Matadors came back with two touchdowns of their own to lead, 24-17, with 10:39 left.

A sprained ankle relegated All-American tailback Albert Fann to kickoff-return duty, but the Northridge rushing game didn’t exactly grind to a halt. The Matadors rushed for 229 yards, including 121 in 13 carries by reserve tailback Victor DeVaughn.

And Fann got the milestone he hoped to reach. He returned three kickoffs for 58 yards and became the fifth player in NCAA history (all divisions) to surpass the 7,000 mark in all-purpose yardage. Fann has 7,034.

So Fann got his yardage, his understudies--DeVaughn, Oscar Pittman and fullbacks Jason Ferguson and Anthony Nicholson--successfully filled the rushing void and the Northridge defense turned in an inspiring fourth-quarter goal-line stand--turning away the 49ers on four plays inside the three-yard line.

All for naught.

“It’s like all in one play,” Ferguson said. “Your heart stops. You see the tip, the continuation, and the catch and your heart is broken.”

Long Beach’s final touchdown came on a 21-yard pass to Jeff Exum from Studer, the former Simi Valley High and Valley College quarterback.

It was set up on a 30-yard punt return by Freddie Leslie that gave the 49ers the ball at the Northridge 24 with 1:43 left. On the second play from there, Exum beat LaVelle Parker on a corner pattern and Studer hit him in full stride for the touchdown.

Long Beach took a timeout to consider its options, but the decision to go for the win wasn’t a tough one: It has been 36 years since an Allen-coached team finished with a losing record.

The 49ers lined up with two wide receivers to the right and sent Leslie, the tailback, in motion to the same side. Studer took the snap and rolled right, but everyone was covered. He attempted to pass anyway and Bamberg was the only player close enough to get a hand on the ball. Seay, standing behind him, cradled the rebound.

“We didn’t lose the game,” Northridge quarterback Sherdrick Bonner said. “It was just a fluke. The defensive back was there and he made the play. The ball just went up instead of down. It just wasn’t meant to happen.”

Northridge had a last chance, taking the ball at its 43 and moving to the Long Beach 46 before the drive stalled. Abo Velasco attempted a desperation 65-yard field goal as time ran out. The kick landed on the three-yard line.

The Matadors last led, 24-17, when Ferguson scored on an 18-yard run with 10:39 to play. Five minutes before, DeVaughn had broken loose for an 80-yard touchdown sprint to tie the score, 17-17.

CSUN led at the half, 10-3, scoring on a 40-yard keeper by Bonner and a 38-yard field goal by Velasco.

Studer completed 19 of 36 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns. Besides the one to Exum, Studer hit Sean Foster for a 32-yard score in the third quarter.

Sean Cheevers, who played at Thousand Oaks High and Moorpark College, made a 47-yard field goal for Long Beach’s only points of the first half.