X Marks the Streak for Irish : College football: Notre Dame rushes for 330 yards and makes it 10 victories in a row over USC, 31-23. Johnson's last-gasp pass is intercepted.

By JERRY CROWE

Nov. 29, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Nine wasn’t enough for Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish made it 10 consecutive victories over USC on Saturday night, rolling through the Trojan defense for 330 yards rushing and reaching their “Decade of Dominance” over the Trojans.

As much as anything, Notre Dame’s 31-23 victory before 90,063 at the Coliseum was the result of superior size and strength.

“Basically, what they did is line up and run right at us,” said USC Coach Larry Smith, whose teams are 0-6 against the Irish since he was hired away from Arizona before the 1987 season. “We had difficulty matching up with it, and it took its toll over a period of time.”

Senior tailback Reggie Brooks, only the fourth Irish runner to gain more than 1,000 yards in a season, ran for 227 yards and three touchdowns in 19 carries against a defense that was sixth in the nation against the run going into the game. He scored on runs of 12, 55 and 44 yards.

Still, Notre Dame’s victory wasn’t secure until USC quarterback Rob Johnson’s career-high 41st pass was intercepted in the Irish end zone by cornerback Tom Carter with 10 seconds to play.

USC ran for a season-low 78 yards, but Johnson kept the Trojans close, completing 27 passes for 302 yards and a touchdown.

It wasn’t enough, and Johnson didn’t hide his disappointment.

“This one loss is as frustrating as 10 in a row,” he said.

Notre Dame, which hasn’t lost to USC since 1982, ended the regular season with a six-game winning streak and will take a 9-1-1 record to a major bowl game, probably the Cotton Bowl against Texas A&M.;

USC, which bounced back from a 3-8 season to qualify for a bowl game with a 6-4-1 record despite losing three of its last four games, will be invited to the Freedom Bowl to play Fresno State at Anaheim Stadium on Dec. 29.

A victory over the Irish might have landed the Trojans in the Blockbuster Bowl against Penn State at Miami on Jan. 1.

The Irish wouldn’t allow it.

Coach Lou Holtz’s team revealed its strategy early on, running through the Trojans for 74 yards in seven plays during its first possession, with Brooks scoring on a 12-yard run to give the Irish a 7-3 lead.

“Our game plan was to run the football and try to control it,” Holtz said. “I thought our offensive line performed exceptionally well. It was a tremendous job of running by our backs.”

But USC moved the ball well from the start, too.

Johnson’s passes of 19 yards to Curtis Conway, 23 yards to Johnnie Morton and 14 yards again to Conway highlighted a 71-yard drive during USC’s second possession that ended with Deon Strother scoring on a one-yard dive.

USC missed a chance to increase its lead later in the first quarter after safety Stephon Pace intercepted a pass by Notre Dame’s Rick Mirer, who completed only five of 14 passes for 75 yards.

Instead of going for a field goal on fourth and one from Notre Dame’s 22-yard line, the Trojans went for a touchdown, using a trick play that had been used against them during a 31-21 victory over Washington State.

Johnson took the snap, squatted as if he had fumbled and rose up to pass. But Irish free safety Jeff Burris wasn’t fooled, and he was able to bat down the pass, which was intended for tight end Yonnie Jackson.

During the second quarter, Craig Hentrich kicked a 37-yard field goal to pull the Irish to 10-10 before USC’s Cole Ford kicked the second of his three field goals, this one from 38 yards, to make the score 13-10.

Two plays before Ford’s field goal, a pass from Johnson was dropped by Conway at the goal line.

“Curtis is going to catch that nine times out of 10, but it just turned out that he dropped that one,” Johnson said.

Brooks, who averaged 11.9 yards per carry, then gave the Irish the lead for good, bursting through the line and going 55 yards to a touchdown that put Notre Dame in front, 17-13, with 1:19 to play in the half.

USC recovered a fumbled punt by Notre Dame’s Charles Stafford moments later, setting up a 32-yard field goal by Ford as time expired in the half, bringing the Trojans to within 17-16.

Holtz said that Brooks was suffering from flu and finally wore down at the end of the game, but Brooks didn’t seem affected during a 44-yard touchdown run that increased Notre Dame’s lead to 24-16 during the third quarter.

Johnson brought the Trojans back, taking advantage of a personal foul against the Irish on third and eight at the Notre Dame 36 by connecting with tailback Estrus Crayton on an 18-yard touchdown pass play.

With the score 24-22 and 3:05 left in the third quarter, Smith considered a two-point conversion attempt, he said later, but reconsidered because so much time was left to play. Ford’s kick made the score 24-23.

The Trojans got no closer.

A clipping penalty against Jason Sehorn nullified a 30-yard punt return by Conway that would have put USC at Notre Dame’s 32-yard line early in the fourth quarter, and later Brooks burned them again.

His 42-yard run midway through the fourth quarter set up teammate Jerome Bettis, who carried on four consecutive plays after Brooks was brought down at the Trojan 19. Bettis, who carried 18 times for 89 yards, finally scored on an eight-yard run.

The Trojans, with a chance to tie, reached Notre Dame’s five-yard line on their last possession when Travis Hannah leaped to take a 41-yard pass from Johnson, wrestling the ball away from Carter.

On first down, though, Johnson was sacked for seven yards by defensive end Devon McDonald, who was unblocked.

On second down, his pass for Morton was intercepted.

“It was a bad decision,” Johnson said. “I should have thrown it away, but I felt like time was running out.”

It was.

But the streak lived on.

Streak Goes On

Results from the last 10 games in the Notre Dame-USC series:

* 1983

Notre Dame 27, USC 6

* 1984

Notre Dame 19, USC 7

* 1985