Bottom Falls Out on Notre Dame : College football: Penn State defeats top-ranked Irish, 24-21, with a 34-yard field goal in final seconds.

No. 1 Notre Dame’s hopes for a national championship probably died in Craig Fayak’s back yard in Belle Vernon, Pa.

Fayak kicked a 34-yard field goal with four seconds to play to give No. 18 Penn State a 24-21 victory Saturday over the Irish, handing them their second defeat as a top-ranked team.

“I’ve practiced that kick a thousand times in my back yard,” Fayak said. “So I told my holder ‘it’s just like in my back yard.’ ”

The Nittany Lions (8-2) tied the score, 21-21, when quarterback Tony Sacca, who threw for a career-high 277 yards, passed 14 yards to Al Golden with 7:15 remaining.

“Basically, we thought we had nothing to lose,” Sacca said. “We just played hard.”

Then defensive back Darren Perry intercepted Rick Mirer’s pass over the middle for Shawn Davis and returned the ball to the Irish 19 with 59 seconds left.

“We weren’t going to settle for a tie,” said Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz, whose club is 8-2 and plays USC next Saturday in the Coliseum. “When you go over the middle, there is a 50-50 chance the safety is going to be there.”

The Lions moved the ball to the Notre Dame 17 in three plays, allowing the clock to run down before Fayak’s attempt.

“I’ve never been in this situation before in my life,” Fayak said. “It probably won’t sink in until I’m back home and I see it on tape.”

Notre Dame’s Walter Boyd returned a squib kick eight yards as time expired.

Two interceptions thrown by Mirer proved crucial.

Notre Dame played the second half without its leading offensive threat, Raghib (Rocket) Ismail, who left with a bruised thigh.

“No doubt we have built our offense around him, but you have to rise to the occasion,” Holtz said.

Mirer, who rushed for a touchdown and passed for 206 yards, had two passes intercepted in the second half, during which he completed only one pass for 21 yards.

“I felt at halftime we had too much respect for their receivers,” Penn State Coach Joe Paterno said. “We gave them too much room.”

Sacca, replaced because of poor passing against Alabama and West Virginia, played the entire game and passed for touchdowns to Terry Smith, Rick Sayles and Golden.

Notre Dame took control in the first quarter on touchdowns by Ricky Watters and Tony Brooks, and Mirer added a touchdown run in the second quarter.

Notre Dame scored on its first possession when Watters ran 22 yards for a touchdown in a 63-yard drive spurred by Mirer’s 18-yard, third-down pass completion to Tony Smith.

The Irish scored on the next possession when Brooks ran 12 yards after Mirer had hit Derek Brown for 23 yards.

The Lions held Notre Dame scoreless in the second half after trailing, 21-7, at halftime.

Penn State’s second touchdown was set up when linebacker Mark D’Onofrio intercepted Mirer’s pass intended for Davis and returned the ball 38 yards to the Notre Dame 11. Sacca passed to Sayles, who bobbled the ball in the end zone and held on with 32 seconds left in the third quarter.

“I took my eye off the ball and juggled it, but I knew I’d make the catch,” Sayles said.

The Lions scored when Sacca faked a reverse, then rolled to his right and completed a 32-yard pass play to Smith, who beat cornerback Todd Lyght to score Penn State’s first touchdown at 4:29 of the first quarter.

Mirer scored on a one-yard run to cap a 92-yard drive featuring completions of 13 and 27 yards to Ismail and Ismail’s six-yard run to the Penn State one.