USC Has Case of the ‘Bends

Fold here.

Those might as well have been the only words on every page of USC’s second-half playbook Saturday against Notre Dame.

A 21-point lead: gone.

A three-game winning streak against one of USC’s two great rivals: vanished.

On the 25th anniversary of one of the great comebacks in Trojan history--the 1974 Notre Dame game--USC committed one of its most extraordinary collapses, losing, 25-24, after tight end Jabari Holloway recovered teammate Jarious Jackson’s fumble in the end zone with 2:40 to play.

“Painful,” USC Coach Paul Hackett said.

Excruciating was more like it.

With USC’s errors mounting and the elements--the wind and the rain and occasionally the officials--almost seeming to conspire, the game turned on its head in front of a crowd of 80,012 at Notre Dame Stadium.

One of USC’s dwindling chances at avoiding defeat was stripped away along with the ball moments after the go-ahead touchdown when R. Jay Soward fumbled the kickoff return as he was gang-tackled at the 36-yard line, and Notre Dame kicker Jim Sanson--so often a goat in the past--recovered the fumble in a scrum.

“That’s the play I’ll remember most in my life,” Soward said. “I saw Notre Dame players on my right and my left, and I said, ‘Go down, R. Jay.’ But something said, ‘R. Jay, you can break out of this.’

“They straight out took the ball from me like I was a 3-year-old with a lollipop. They said, ‘It’s mine. It’s mine.’ ”

That was one lost chance, but not the last: USC’s Ennis Davis recovered a fumble by Jackson, the Irish quarterback, at the USC 27 with 1:02 left.

But USC was stopped on five downs, finally failing on fourth and four from its 48-yard line when quarterback Mike Van Raaphorst’s pass for Windrell Hayes was tipped by Anthony Weaver and fell short, giving Notre Dame the ball--and the victory--with 36 seconds left.

“Well, if you were an innocent bystander, you’d say it was a hell of a football game,” Hackett said. “I can’t say that.”

Innocent Trojans were hard to find, but told of Soward’s mea culpa, Hackett didn’t accept.

“It’s collective,” he said. “I appreciate him falling on the sword for all of us, but it’s a team game.

“The second half we self-destructed. Penalties at critical times, turnovers, and the defense allowed a quarterback to run through us.”

Holloway’s fumble recovery came after Jackson--whose option skills had been held in check much of the game--scrambled on second and seven from the 18-yard line and found an open thoroughfare to the five-yard-line, where he was hit by USC’s Kris Richard and fumbled.

Instead of a game-saving play for USC, it saved Notre Dame when Holloway recovered in the end zone.

The two-point conversion attempt failed, but Notre Dame wouldn’t need it, and the Irish completed their biggest comeback since 1979, when Notre Dame rallied from 22 points behind to beat Houston in the Cotton Bowl.

It was a comeback of another sort too: Once 1-3, the Irish are 4-3.

“We have a lot of heart,” Jackson said. “I knew we could come back, and I told the team at halftime we could come back.

“I said I wanted to go out and make history today. This was my final chance to beat SC. We just needed to keep the faith and we would win the game.”

Prophetic words.

“This is the biggest win in my career at Notre Dame,” safety Deke Cooper said. “This is in the history books. Notre Dame 25, USC 24: What else can you say?”

Well, you can say USC helped.

“It’s something about this team. We can’t go out and can’t finish teams off,” linebacker Markus Steele said.

USC played a nearly perfect first half, solving its running game troubles with Chad Morton’s scampering and playing penalty-free football.

Then came the second half.

After kicking a field goal for a 24-3 lead, USC committed its first penalties on the next Irish drive--including a personal foul against Ifeanyi Ohalete, and Jackson rolled right and threw back across the field to Dan O’Leary for a touchdown that cut the lead to 24-10.

Two possessions later, Van Raaphorst fumbled when he was hit by a blitzing Ron Israel, and Notre Dame’s Antony Denman recovered.

“I didn’t think it was a fumble,” Van Raaphorst said. “I mean, he hit me pretty hard, but I thought my arm was going forward. It probably wasn’t though.”

Notre Dame scored on the possession when Tony Driver carried the ball in from two yards out, and after USC’s Antuan Simmons blocked the kick, the score was 24-16.

That seemed like a crucial play, but it wasn’t to be.

USC, struggling now to hold onto the wet ball, completed its next possession with an 11-yard punt.

“The punt was horrible,” Hackett said. “To shank a punt at that point.”

Notre Dame, starting with the ball at the USC 43, had to settle for a 33-yard field goal by David Miller after USC stopped Jackson on third and eight.

That made it 24-19, with 8:07 left and the momentum long since reversed.

A third-and-eight catch by Hayes on the next drive was ruled incomplete although it appeared Hayes might have been pushed out of bounds and his foot may have landed in anyway.

“I went back to the ref and showed him where Windrell’s foot was,” Soward said.

Hackett thought it was a catch too.

“I was right there,” he said. “That’s obviously a huge call. I thought overall the officiating team did a good job.”

Notre Dame got the ball back, and mounted its go-ahead drive.

“We gave the game away,” Simmons said. “We had them stopped, then Jarious Jackson made that play. You’ve got to give him credit. He scrambled out.”

USC did the opposite.

“I’m tired of playing psychologist. We didn’t execute,” Van Raaphorst said.

“You always ask yourself why,” linebacker Zeke Moreno said. “SC is one of the top schools in the nation. To be 3-3, I feel bad that we’re letting down people who played here in the past.”

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* J.A. ADANDE

Just when things finally seemed to be going USC’s way in a key game, along came a familiar problem--the second half. Page 10

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* JUST GREAT

USC’s pregame meeting with Muhammad Ali was inspirational, but then so was Notre Dame’s with Wayne Gretzky. Page 10

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4th-Quarter Flops

USC has been outscored, 65-34, in the fourth quarter this season and the last three games have produced the most alarming numbers:

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Opponent 4th Result Oregon State 0-22 37-29 W Arizona 7-14 31-24 L Notre Dame 0-15 25-24 L

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