Stanford Sends USC Into Dark : Pacific 10: Stenstrom’s touchdown pass with 1:11 left gives Cardinal a 24-21 victory, ending 11-game losing streak against the Trojans.

As darkness fell upon the Coliseum early Saturday evening, USC’s hopes of reaching the Rose Bowl disappeared in the gathering gloom.

Also lost, perhaps, were the Trojans’ more realistic hopes of ending the season with a winning record and attracting a lesser bowl bid.

With games upcoming in the next three weeks against No. 5-ranked Notre Dame, No. 7 California and No. 3 Washington, USC could ill afford a loss to unranked Stanford, which hadn’t beaten the Trojans in 16 years.

But lose the Trojans did, 24-21, in front of 61,265.

Ending an 11-game losing streak against USC, which was 14-0-1 against Stanford since 1975, the Cardinal won by rallying in the last 3 1/2 minutes. This, after squandering a 17-7 lead by giving up two fourth-quarter touchdowns to a Trojan offense that had foundered and flopped to that point.

Wide receiver Chris Walsh, who caught nine passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns, scored the winning points on a 12-yard pass from Steve Stenstrom with 1 minute 11 seconds remaining.

It was the third touchdown pass of the day for Stenstrom, a sophomore from Orange County’s El Toro High who completed 15 of 31 passes for 267 yards in his second start since replacing senior Jason Palumbis.

USC had a chance to tie on the last play of the game, but freshman kicker Cole Ford pushed a 45-yard field-goal attempt wide to the right.

The Trojans fell to 3-3 overall, 2-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference. Winners of their last seven road games, they have lost three of four at the Coliseum this year and are at a loss to explain their inability to win at home.

“We just played a good team that beat us,” Coach Larry Smith said of the Cardinal, which improved to 3-3 and 1-2. “I don’t think it made any difference that we were in the Coliseum.”

Maybe not, but USC is 1-5-1 at home since Oct. 6, 1990.

The Trojans seemed sure to improve on that record when their offense, which moved the ball past midfield only once in the first three quarters, suddenly came alive in the fourth behind quarterback Reggie Perry.

Perry, who completed a season-high 22 of 33 passes for a season-high 201 yards, was four for five for 46 yards on a 69-yard touchdown drive on USC’s first possession of the fourth quarter; then four of four for 36 yards during a 61-yard scoring drive on the Trojans’ next possession.

Both drives ended the same way, with sophomore reserve tailback Deon Strother carrying the ball into the end zone.

Strother’s 17-yard touchdown run with 9:02 left pulled the Trojans to within 17-14. His nine-yard run with 3:37 left gave USC a 21-17 lead and, it seemed at the time, a victory.

Until the fourth quarter, USC had eight first downs.

A three-yard touchdown run by Perry in the second quarter, cutting Stanford’s lead to 10-7, was set up by a spectacular 82-yard kickoff return by Curtis Conway, who actually carried the ball 96 yards into the end zone, only to have the touchdown nullified because of a clipping penalty.

Otherwise, Stanford dominated the first three quarters, increasing its lead to 17-7 midway through the third quarter on a 71-yard touchdown pass play from Stenstrom to Walsh.

Walsh turned a short play into a touchdown, making a move to elude cornerback Calvin Holmes after catching the ball, then outracing Holmes and another cornerback, Jason Oliver, up the sideline into the end zone.

“I have to break down and make that tackle,” said a downcast Holmes, who would be victimized again on the Cardinal’s game-winning drive. “That’s something I didn’t do, and it cost us a lot.”

About eight minutes into the third quarter, the Trojan offense finally moved the ball into Stanford territory for the first time, a three-yard run by fullback Wes Bender taking it to the Cardinal 47.

Until the fourth quarter, USC penetrated no deeper.

But then the Trojans rallied.

“In the second half, we felt a real urgency to get the job done,” said Strother, who ran for 45 yards in 11 carries, keeping starter Mazio Royster on the bench for most of the last two quarters. “And I think that, along with some added confidence, enabled us to execute.”

But it was all for naught.

The Cardinal put together a rally of its own to win.

Stenstrom got the 65-yard drive started by passing 11 yards to Walsh, but the quarterback was kneed in the groin on the play, he said, and had to leave the game after spending several minutes on the ground.

Palumbis came on for three plays and completed a 15-yard pass to fullback Tommy Vardell before Stenstrom was sent back onto the field.

On fourth and five at the Trojans’ 34-yard line, halfback Glyn Milburn made perhaps the play of the game, taking a short pass from Stenstrom in the right flat, sidestepping Holmes and gaining 22 yards to the 12.

“He’s just slippery,” Holmes said of Milburn, who burned the Trojans for 216 all-purpose yards, 182 in the first half. “I had him a couple of times and he just slipped right out.”

Not long after, victory for USC slipped away, too.

A first-down pass by Stenstrom was dropped in the end zone by Oliver, who made a game-saving interception late in the Trojans’ 34-27 victory over Washington State last week, but couldn’t hang onto the ball this time.

On third down, with eight men blitzing for USC, Stenstrom took advantage of man-to-man coverage in the secondary, lofting a pass into the left corner of the end zone, where Walsh had beaten safety Stephon Pace.

“Chris made a great move inside and then cut back out, and I just threw him the ball,” Stenstrom said.

Perry brought the Trojans back down the field again, but he ran out of time and Ford was brought on to at least salvage a tie.

“I’d say it was probably my best kick of the season,” said Ford, who had made seven of nine attempts before Saturday for a success rate of 77.8%, best in the conference. “It missed by about half a foot. . . .

“I can’t really be ashamed. I had a good kick.”

But not good enough.

Darkness had fallen upon the Trojans’ season.

Trojan Notes

Before Saturday, Stanford had passed for one touchdown this season. . . . USC offensive guard Derrick Deese dislocated his left elbow and is expected to be out for three or four weeks. . . . USC’s Curtis Conway has had two kickoff returns for touchdowns nullified by penalties this year. . . . USC’s Johnnie Morton caught a career-high nine passes. . . . Stanford is 4-29-1 against USC since 1957. . . . If the goal posts in college football had not been narrowed this season from 23 feet 4 inches to 18-6, Cole Ford’s kick would have been good.