30 YEARS A.D.

Anthony Davis predicted a few scoring runs but could not imagine the results. Or the reaction.

Not every day. Not after 30 years.

In restaurants. In airports. In almost any social or business situation that Davis finds himself, the subject invariably comes up.

Six touchdowns in one game.

Two on spectacular kick returns.

Against Notre Dame.

“That game changed my life,” said Davis, the former USC running back who became the Fighting Irish’s arch-nemesis with his performance at the Coliseum in 1972. “It’s amazing how it carries on with me.”

Davis, 50, will be on the Coliseum sidelines Saturday when sixth-ranked USC plays seventh-ranked Notre Dame in the regular-season finale for both teams. The game, the most significant in the storied rivalry since 1988, includes several potential game-breakers.

But it is unlikely that any player will produce like the high-stepping Davis did on Dec. 2, 1972, when the top-ranked Trojans defeated the No. 10 Irish, 45-23, en route to an unbeaten season and undisputed national championship.

Davis, a 5-9, 185-pound sophomore from San Fernando High, returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown and also scored on a one- and five-yard runs in the first quarter. He added a four-yard touchdown early in the third quarter and a back-breaking 96-yard kickoff return late in the period after Notre Dame pulled to within 25-23. His final touchdown came early in the fourth quarter on an eight-yard run.

Davis finished with 368 all-purpose yards, 218 from kickoff returns. He also rushed for 99 yards and led the Trojans with three receptions for 51 yards.

After the game, USC Coach John McKay said, “I’ve never seen a greater day by an individual than Anthony Davis’ performance today.”

Said Notre Dame Coach Ara Parseghian: “The worst part about him is that I have to look at him the next couple of years.”

Davis also scored a touchdown in a loss to Notre Dame in 1973 and four more in USC’s legendary 55-24 comeback victory over the Fighting Irish in 1974. But the 1972 game started his legacy.

“I was fortunate to be on a team with so many great players that season,” said Davis, now a real estate developer. “That team was probably the best in the history of USC. Maybe the history of college football.”

So talented were the Trojans, Davis began the season third on the depth chart behind junior Rod McNeill and sophomore Allen Carter.

“A.D. was lost in the shuffle a little bit initially,” said John Robinson, the Trojans’ running backs coach at the time. “He was cocky and not exactly an establishment guy, but he was good.”

Davis had to be to play on a team that included tight end Charles Young, fullback Sam Cunningham, offensive tackle Pete Adams, linebacker Richard Wood and defensive tackle John Grant, all of whom were All-Americans that season. Young, Cunningham and Adams were chosen in the first round of the 1973 NFL draft and flanker Lynn Swann and offensive tackle Steve Riley were first-round picks in 1974.

“We weren’t a boastful team, but we knew what we could do,” Cunningham said. “Even when our offense had an off day, our defense shut people down. We would beat people up and the defense would beat people up. It really didn’t make a difference.”

USC, coming off consecutive 6-4-1 seasons, opened at Arkansas.

“We could have easily gone down there and laid an egg,” recalled Mike Rae, the Trojans’ quarterback and kicker who was selected as the team’s most valuable player. “Instead, we went down and destroyed them.”

USC won, 31-10, and reeled off six more victories with McNeill and Carter doing the bulk of the ballcarrying. But injuries to both provided Davis with his first career start against Oregon.

On a wet field in Eugene, Davis rushed for 206 yards in 25 carries and scored on runs of 48 and 55 yards as the Trojans won, 18-0.

“The next week, John Robinson walked into the hotel room before the game and said, ‘You’re starting,’ ” Davis said.

After victories over Washington State and UCLA, the Trojans had two weeks to prepare for Notre Dame. The previous season, USC and Notre Dame brawled on the field in South Bend, Ind., during a 28-14 Trojan victory.

“I can remember us being worried,” Robinson recalled. “It was like you can run on everybody but you can’t run on the Irish.”

Davis wasn’t concerned.

“They’re big and strong,” Davis had told The Times’ Jeff Prugh, “but if I can get outside -- get into the open -- I think I can go all the way a few times.”

USC players emerged from the Coliseum tunnel riding a wave of emotion from a pregame speech delivered by assistant Marv Goux. After the starters were introduced to the national television audience, teammate Charles “Sugar Bear” Hinton approached Davis.

“He said, ‘I’m going to try and get you a good block so we can get good field position,’ ” Davis said.

Davis caught Cliff Brown’s kick at the three, got a block from Hinton and burst through Notre Dame’s coverage to the end zone. “I got there so quick, I went untouched,” Davis said. “I got to the 10 and I was thinking, ‘Well, I said I was going to score. That’s one.’ ”

USC led, 19-10, at halftime, but the Irish pulled to within 25-23 on a touchdown with two minutes left in the third quarter, setting the stage for Davis’ second return.

Parseghian had Brown try a squib kick to keep the ball away from Davis, but the ball went out of bounds. Instead of trying another squib kick, Parseghian told Brown to kick the ball deep.

“We wanted to pin them down in their own territory,” Parseghian said afterward.

Davis caught the ball at the four, then started up field and broke toward the left sideline. A Notre Dame player hit him on the foot at the 35 but Davis kept his balance.

The last player between Davis and the goal line was Notre Dame defensive back Tim Rudnick. Davis faked to the inside at the 25 and then cut back the other way, leaving Rudnick behind with a move teammates dubbed “The Funky Chicken.”

“I saw Parseghian and it looked like he was going to jump off the sideline and get me,” Davis said.

Davis scored his sixth touchdown early in the fourth quarter three plays after the Trojans intercepted a pass. Cunningham scored USC’s final touchdown as the Trojans completed an 11-0 regular season before hammering Ohio State, 42-17, in the Rose Bowl.

“I don’t think any of the players were aware at the time that he had scored six touchdowns,” Rae recalled. “We were concentrating on the game. If I had known, I would have said to Anthony, ‘You have five of them. How about I get one?’ ”

Davis finished the season with 1,191 yards and averaged 5.8 yards a carry. He was an All-American in 1974 and Heisman Trophy runner-up and ranks third on the Trojans’ career rushing list with 3,724 yards.

“The thing that was so great about Anthony, and something I haven’t seen since Marcus Allen, was the way he knew how to set up his blocks,” said Allan Graf, who started at guard from 1970-72 and was also a high school teammate of Davis’. “He was a lineman’s dream. He knew how to help himself by helping the people blocking for him.”

Davis did not duplicate his college feats in the pros. He was selected by the New York Jets in the second round of the 1975 draft but signed instead with the Southern California Sun of the World Football League. He also played in the Canadian Football League, and with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Houston Oilers and Los Angeles Rams in the NFL before finishing his pro career with the Los Angeles Express of the U.S. Football League.

“That game against Notre Dame followed me to the pros,” Davis said. “Guys would tackle me and say, ‘You’re not scoring six touchdowns on us, you S.O.B!’ ”

Davis is enjoying USC’s revival this season and anticipates another classic game between the Trojans and Fighting Irish on Saturday. The Coliseum is sold out. Both teams are ranked in the top 10.

“It’s going to bring back a lot of memories,” Davis said. “The kind that nobody forgets.”

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A.D.’s Big Day

A look at the five USC individual game records set by Anthony Davis against Notre Dame in 1972 that still stand today:

* Most points: 36 (ties Pac-10 record).

* Most touchdowns: Six (ties Pac-10 record).

* Most yards all-purpose running: 368 (99 rush, 51 receiving, 218 kickoffs).

* Most touchdowns on kickoff returns: Two (ties NCAA record).

* Highest average gain per kickoff return (minimum 3 attempts): 72.7 (3 for 218, NCAA record)