A RUN FOR NO. 1 : Notre Dame Enjoys Early Fiesta : College football: Irish pound out a 31-24 victory over Seminoles, but there could be a rematch on New Year’s Day.

Bobby Bowden wore the look of someone who had seen another national championship chance pass in front of his eyes. Florida State cap slightly askew, hands gripped tightly on the lectern, the Seminole coach peered wearily into the postgame television lights and said, “I would like to be Lou Holtz just one night--tonight.”

Instead, he will have to settle for being the gracious Game of the Century loser, something Bowden does better than anyone. Then again, he has had lots of practice, the latest being Saturday’s 31-24 loss to Notre Dame.

Not only did the Irish break Bowden’s heart, but they broke the Seminoles’ season-long hold on the No. 1 ranking. Now comes the fun part: Will there be a rematch?

Florida State (9-1) began the game ranked first in the polls, but didn’t end it there. That honor now belongs to the Irish (10-0), who entered the game as No. 2. If it beats Boston College next week at home, Notre Dame could find itself in the Fiesta Bowl against who knows who, or the Orange Bowl against Nebraska. Whatever happens, a victory next Saturday means no worse than a shot at a ninth national title.

Of course, such talk is heresy to Holtz, the Notre Dame coach who had his deflector shields up and working when asked about the possibility of meeting Florida State at a later date, such as Jan. 1.

“I do expect to meet Boston College next Saturday,” he said. “That’s the only thing on my mind.”

Bowden wasn’t so lucky. He never is. He spent the afternoon watching Notre Dame’s offensive line push and power his defense up and down the field. The Irish rushed for 239 yards, 122 by tailback Lee Becton. In short, Bowden’s worst game-day nightmare.

In front of a national television audience and a Notre Dame Stadium crowd of 59,075, the Irish took a 24-7 third-quarter lead and then withstood a furious Seminole rally that didn’t end until the final play of the game. With three seconds remaining and the ball on Notre Dame’s 14-yard line, Irish defensive back Shawn Gooden batted down Charlie Ward’s pass intended for tailback Warrick Dunn.

Joyous Notre Dame fans stormed the field. A dejected Florida State team stormed to its locker room for another “We’ll-get-’em-next-time” speech from Bowden.

“They did the things to us I thought they were going to do to us,” Bowden said. “Yet, with another play there, we might have done something and tied it.”

Now he’ll never know. Or will he?

The Seminoles will drop in the polls, but how far? A safe landing at No. 2 could ultimately mean a rematch against the Irish in the Fiesta Bowl. That’s the way the bowl coalition works: If No. 1 and No. 2 have no conference obligations, they have to play each other in Tempe, Ariz.

“Florida State-Notre Dame II,” said Seminole wide receiver Kez McCorvey, who had 11 catches for 138 yards, “it’d be kind of like the ‘Thrilla in Manila.’ ”

But there are no sure things. Miami, currently ranked No. 3, could move up to the second spot. So could Nebraska, ranked fourth before Saturday’s drubbing of Iowa State.

The results of the combined coaches and media polls will be announced today. In the meantime, Bowden will wait and hope.

“Would I vote for us No. 2?” he said. “Ah, I won’t answer that. I’ll go home tonight and think about it and do what’s right . . . which is probably us No. 2.”

Bowden will get few arguments from Holtz, his longtime coaching buddy.

“I think (Florida State) is the best football team we have beaten since I’ve been in coaching,” said Holtz, who became a head coach in 1969.

And this from Notre Dame’s Jeff Burris, the full-time defensive back (four dropped would-be interceptions) and part-time running back (two touchdowns): “We’d love (a rematch). If I had a vote, I wouldn’t drop them.”

Not everyone from the Irish was in such a hurry for January visit with the Seminoles. From the been-there, seen-that school of thinking was center Tim Ruddy, who figured one victory against Florida State should be enough.

“I think we’d rather play somebody else,” he said. “I think if you beat somebody once, you don’t have anything to gain playing them again. And we’d want to gain something.”

The Irish gained lots of things Saturday--yards, votes, supporters, compliments and one of the most important victories in years. They did everything necessary to defeat the Seminoles, beginning with their running game and ending where it counts, on the scoreboard.

Notre Dame’s offense dominated Florida State on the ground (239-96) and Notre Dame’s defense confused the Seminoles when it mattered most. Ward finished with 297 yards and three touchdowns, but it took 50 pass attempts to do it. The Heisman Trophy favorite also threw an interception, his first in 160 passes, and it later resulted in an Irish touchdown.

At one point Saturday, Ward fell to pieces. After Florida State took a 7-0 lead with 5:17 gone in the first quarter, Ward took an untimely vacation. For the rest of the half, he completed only six of 16 passes, threw one interception (and saw three others dropped by Burris), was sacked twice and finished with 42 total yards.

The Seminoles can’t blame the weather. Temperature at kickoff was 59 degrees, there was no rain, although a 15-20 m.p.h. wind dictated much of the offensive strategy. If anything, they could only blame themselves and Notre Dame’s defense.

“It’s a victory for the old style of defense,” Irish linebacker Pete Bercich said.

As Ward and the Seminoles struggled, Notre Dame took control of the game. Flanker Adrian Jarrell scored on a 32-yard reverse to tie the score and Becton’s 26-yard touchdown run put the Irish ahead for good.

For Jarrell, it was his first rushing attempt of the season and only the third of his career.

It would get worse for the Seminoles. They saw the little-used Jarrell score on the reverse. Meanwhile, every trick play Florida State tried--double laterals, direct snaps to tailbacks, halfback passes--blew up in Bowden’s face. Worse yet, the Seminoles wasted two of their three timeouts by the end of the third quarter, leaving them with few options on that final drive.

And in a telling development, Seminole freshman kicker Scott Bentley, who initially planned to sign with Notre Dame, missed his first field-goal attempt. It was wide right, two words that live in Florida State football infamy.

When it comes right down to it--and bear with Holtz on this one--Notre Dame defeated Florida State because, well, Lou likes Ike.

Ike, as in Dwight D. Eisenhower, former five-star general and President of the United States. That Ike.

Perched in front of his television set earlier this week, Holtz, the former history major from Kent State, found himself watching the local arts and education channel.

The topic: Eisenhower. The lesson: leadership. “Eisenhower said, ‘If you do not have a positive attitude with a commander, victory is impossible.’ ”

So Holtz became an Ike imitator this week. He did his customary poor-mouthing for media consumption, but his speeches to his team and later, to a packed house at a Friday night pep rally, were absolutely Eisenhower-esque. He said the Irish would play their best game of the season. He explained that the Seminoles didn’t understand Notre Dame’s football mystique because Florida State didn’t have any of its own.

“I was just trying to be more optimistic,” Holtz said Saturday.

It worked. In fact, nearly everything Holtz did before and during the latest Game of the Century worked. From oratory to play calling, Holtz convinced the Irish that they were better than the mighty Seminoles.

Still to be determined is whether they will have to do it again.