Barkley, Clausen help rivalry game take flight COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Duel between much-hyped QBs lives up to its billing.

Byline: Scott Wolf, Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - USC quarterback Matt Barkley raced over to Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen at the end of Saturday's 34-27 Trojans victory.

The only problem: The game was not over because the officials ruled one second remained.

"He was looking at the referees," Barkley said. "He knew what was going on. I didn't.

"I told him, 'Great game. Keep it up."'

The game lived up to its hype, at least from a quarterbacks perspective.

Barkley passed for 380 yards against a porous Notre Dame defense, while Clausen stretched USC's defense like never before this season with 260 yards.

"I told Jimmy he's the best quarterback we faced all year," USC safety Will Harris said. "He told me he appreciated it."

But Clausen preferred to have a victory instead of compliments, especially with three chances to score from the four-yard line in the final seconds.

"It's a loss, whether it's the No. 1 in the country or No. 6 team in the country," Clausen said. "It's an extremely tough loss. Fighting back at the end, fourth quarter, coming up short, one second to go. It's heartbreaking."

Barkley, who admitted this week he looked up to Clausen, said he expected the Trojans' defense to stop Notre Dame on the game's final play.

"Knowing how great a quarterback he is, I still had faith in our defense," Barkley said. "I knew deep down inside we would get a stop."

The game also illustrated the different personalities of the quarterbacks. Barkley seems almost laid-back while Clausen is visibly intense. In one memorable scene, Clausen chased USC defensive end Malik Jackson off the field following Jackson's roughing-the- passer penalty.

"He said, 'Good job, Malik. Good job, Malik. (Dummy),"' Jackson said. "What could I say? I messed up."

Jackson made sure to find Clausen after the game to return the favor.

"I said, "Good job Jimmy. You (jerk).' He just kept walking," Jackson said.

Clausen, who passed for only 41 yards in last year's 38-3 loss to USC, was asked if a rivalry still exists after the Trojans' eighth straight victory.

"Oh, it is," he said. "Like I said, it's just heartbreaking we came up short. The past few years we weren't competitive at all. That's that of the things we've gained, starting to be competitive against whomever we're playing. I give 'SC a lot of credit for coming out and playing hard."

Barkley continued his baptism through hostile territory and now owns victories at Ohio State, California and Notre Dame.

"This is what I thought it would be," he said. "It wasn't nearly as loud as Ohio State."