CLOUDS ARE LIFTED; USC SHUTOUT OF IRISH PROVIDES WIN NO. 8 : USC 10, NOTRE DAME 0.Byline: Scott Wolf Scott Richard Wolf (born June 4, 1968) is an American actor. Born in Boston, Massachusetts to Steven Wolf and Susan Enowitch, Wolf was raised in West Orange, New Jersey. He graduated in 1986 from West Orange High School. Daily News Staff Writer The skies were threatening, but Notre Dame Notre Dame IPA: [nɔtʁ dam] is French for Our Lady, referring to the Virgin Mary. In the United States of America, Notre Dame wasn't. The fear of heavy showers spoiling USC's intersectional rivalry with the Irish turned out to be a lot more worrisome than Notre Dame's offense. And in the end, neither materialized. The Trojans completely manhandled Notre Dame, which was clearly handicapped without starting quarterback Jarious Jackson Jarious Jackson (born May 3, 1977 in Tupelo, Mississippi) is an American and Canadian football quarterback and safety. Due to injuries, Jackson is currently the starting quarterback with the British Columbia Lions of the CFL. , and shut out the ninth-ranked Irish, 10-0, before 90,069 at the Coliseum on Saturday night. The score might have been low, but emotions were high for the Trojans, who celebrated their third straight victory over Notre Dame. Just a week after a demoralizing de·mor·al·ize tr.v. de·mor·al·ized, de·mor·al·iz·ing, de·mor·al·iz·es 1. To undermine the confidence or morale of; dishearten: an inconsistent policy that demoralized the staff. loss to UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , USC's role in a rivalry was completely reversed as the Trojans capped their regular season by shutting out Notre Dame for the first time since 1962. ``We got that horrible taste out of our mouths from last week,'' USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. linebacker Mark Cusano said. ``It's a great way to end the season.'' The Trojans (8-4) not only extended their winning streak Noun 1. winning streak - a streak of wins streak, run - an unbroken series of events; "had a streak of bad luck"; "Nicklaus had a run of birdies" against their archrival arch·ri·val n. A principal rival. , they set themselves up for a possible berth in the Holiday Bowl against Nebraska, or perhaps an invitation to the Sun Bowl in El Paso El Paso (ĕl pă`sō), city (1990 pop. 515,342), seat of El Paso co., extreme W Tex., on the Rio Grande opposite Juárez, Mex.; inc. 1873. . ``To get eight wins, that's a big deal for us,'' USC coach Paul Hackett said. ``I think we made the statement we had to make in the first year. Seven wins wouldn't have made that statement as much.'' USC got No. 8 by forcing Notre Dame to throw the ball. The Trojans moved their safeties up, and essentially had nine men ready to defend the run, a sound strategy since the Irish were without Jackson, who partially tore knee ligaments last week against LSU LSU Louisiana State University LSU Large Subunit LSU La Salle University (Philadelphia, PA) LSU La Sierra University LSU Link State Update (OSPF) LSU Learning Support Unit . Jackson's replacements, junior Eric Chappell Eric Chappell, born in Grantham, England in 1933, wrote or co-wrote a number of the UK's biggest sitcom hits during the 1970s, 80s and 90s. His successes include The Squirrels, Rising Damp, Only When I Laugh, The Bounder, Duty Free, and freshman Arnaz Battle Arnaz Jerome Battle (born February 22, 1980 in Dallas, Texas) is an American football wide receiver who currently plays for the San Francisco 49ers. He went to the University of Notre Dame. He was drafted by the 49ers in the 6th round (197th overall) in 2003 NFL Draft. , were nothing short of inept when it came time to pass. Chappell started and threw two interceptions in three pass attempts. He was quickly replaced by Battle, who was only slightly better, going seven for 19 for 94 yards and two interceptions. ``We have no excuses,'' Notre Dame coach Bob Davie People named Bob Davie include:
The Irish (9-2) saw their Rose Bowl hopes evaporate and are unlikely to be included in any BCS (1) (The British Computer Society, Swindon, Wiltshire, England, www.bcs.org) The chartered body for information technology professionals in the U.K., founded in 1957. bowl games. Instead, Notre Dame could be headed toward the Gator Bowl For the stadium, see . The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that is played at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. It is one of the oldest college bowls, held continuously since 1946. . But even without much of an offense, the Irish still had the Trojans teetering most of the game. USC quarterback Carson Palmer Carson Palmer (born December 27, 1979 in Fresno, California), is an American football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League. He attended the University of Southern California, where he won the Heisman Trophy Award in 2002 in his senior season. was not having one of his better performances, throwing a pair of interceptions and the teams went into halftime tied, 0-0. Then came the move. USC tailback Chad Morton changed the pace of the game with a nifty spin, and the Trojans never looked back. With USC on the Irish 28-yard line in the third quarter, Morton took the handoff and seemed close to being stopped at the line of scrimmage line of scrimmage n. pl. lines of scrimmage Football Either of two imaginary lines extending across the field parallel to the goal line at the ends of the ball as it rests prior to being snapped and at which each team lines up for . But Morton did a 360-degree move and found himself in the open field for a 21-yard gain. Two plays later, Palmer rolled out to his left and strolled into the end zone untouched for a 7-0 lead. ``I have no idea where that came from,'' Morton said. ``I thought I saw the safety. I just did some kind of spin move.'' Hackett was equally amazed on the sideline. ``Unbelievable,'' Hackett said. ``I saw the safety coming up, and I said `Oh oh' on the headphones Head-mounted speakers. Headphones have a strap that rests on top of the head, positioning a pair of speakers over both ears. For listening to music or monitoring live performances and audio tracks, both left and right channels are required. . And then Chad just went around.'' Notre Dame responded to the touchdown by running Autry Denson three times against USC's defense, and was forced to punt. Morton then juked Juked is an independently published literary journal featuring fiction and poetry. It has appeared in print and on the Internet since 1999. There is also a photography component feature (called Moment) on the website. External links
Morton finished with 85-yards rushing in the third quarter, and had 128 yards overall, his sixth 100-yard game of the season. With a double-digit lead, there was little to fear from the Irish, who hadn't been blanked by anyone since Miami shut them out in 1987. It wasn't exactly a breeze, however, for USC's defense, which has been forced to prop up the struggling offense for most of the season. ``I don't think we handled them that easily,'' said free safety Rashard Cook, who had two interceptions. ``It wasn't a blowout. We knew they didn't have their quarterback.'' It was Cook who snuffed out Notre Dame's last legitimate chance to still win the game, when he came out of nowhere to intercept Battle's pass at the USC 14-yard line. As impressive as a shutout might sound, the Trojans were just happy to take a victory in a marquee game with national television exposure. USC hadn't defeated a top 10 team since beating these same Irish in overtime at the Coliseum two years ago. That game saved John Robinson's job for one more season. This one gave USC's seniors a small legacy, a three-game winning streak against a team that had dominated USC for most of the past 15 years. ``It helps,'' said USC wide receiver Billy Miller. ``It's kind of a sigh of relief that we didn't drop the last two games to UCLA and Notre Dame. I can always remember this as a year we beat Notre Dame. ``Notre Dame. They couldn't do anything. They had to be frustrated. That's the No. 9 team in the country and we shut them out.'' USC vs. NOTRE DAME: A CLOSER LOOK THE HERO USC's defense. The Trojans shut out the Irish, something that hasn't happened to Notre Dame since 1987 against Miami. The defense also intercepted four passes, while allowing just seven completions. THE GOAT Notre Dame quarterback Jarious Jackson. He had the audacity to get hurt and prove just how lifeless the Irish offense was without its leader. When did Notre Dame ever miss the great Ron Powlus even half as much? STAT OF THE GAME Notre Dame was held to just 217 yards in total offense, an average of 3.5 yards per play. The Irish rushed for 139 yards, which was only 10 yards less than Autry Denson averaged in the previous three games of this series. QUOTE OF THE GAME ``It hurts to come out here a 9-1 football team and to go home 9-2.'' - Bob Davie, Notre Dame coach NOTEBOOK: Cusano again is big thorn in Irish's side USC linebacker Mark Cusano got his hat trick. Already earning the moniker (1) A name, title or alias. See alias. (2) A COM object that is used to create instances of other objects. Monikers save programmers time when coding various types of COM-based functions such as linking one document to another (OLE). See COM and OLE. ``Mr. Notre Dame killer'' from his teammates after being a part of two pivotal plays in victories over the Irish, Cusano played a large role in USC's 10-0 victory Saturday. Cusano intercepted Eric Chappell's first pass of the game, and returned it 19 yards. It was just another memorable moment for Cusano, who intercepted a Ron Powlus pass last season that set up USC's game-winning field goal in a 20-17 victory. He also batted down a pass in overtime two years ago, that was the game-winning play in the Trojans' 27-20 win. ``This is the one I look forward to every year,'' Cusano said. ``It will give me a good memory when I'm 40. God blessed me. I kind of have their number. When I went to bed (Friday night), I said a little prayer and tried to envision something good happening.'' Cusano, who got just his second start of the season while filling in for the injured David Gibson, had five tackles. ``It really helps me. It felt good to play again,'' Cusano said. Hall of Fame honorees: USC inducted 21 new members into its Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, including baseball superstar Mark McGwire and football greats Anthony Davis, Anthony Munoz, Jim Hardy, Bob Chandler, Jesse Hibbs, Russ Saunders, Harry Smith, Homer Griffith, Francis Tappaan and Garrett Arbelbide. Other inductees are track legends Frank Wykoff and Louis Zamperini; track coach Verne Wolfe; swimmer Cynthia Woodhead-Kantzer; golfer Craig Stadler; women's basketball player Cynthia Cooper; tennis player Gene Mako; sportswriter sports·writ·er n. A person who writes about sports, especially for a newspaper or magazine. sports Harley Tinkham, booster Jerry Buss and trainer Jack Ward. The honorees will be officially inducted during a ceremony in May at USC. Tired team: If USC looked a little sluggish offensively, it wasn't totally surprising. ``We're worn out. We're tired,'' said a player who asked not to be identified. It gets better for the Trojans. They will be off until Friday, when they will resume practicing in anticipation of a bowl game. Claiborne delivers: USC linebacker Chris Claiborne enhanced his chances for the Butkus Award, with 12 tackles and an interception. - Scott Wolf CAPTION(S): 4 Photos, Box Photo: (1--Color) USC's Chris Claiborne returns an interception in the second quarter before Notre Dame' Eric Chappell runs him down. Myung J. Chun/Daily News (2) On the Trojans' first play, Chad Morton had his facemask face·mask n. A protective or disguising cover for the face, often enveloping the entire head: wore a facemask while diving; a skier's facemask; armed robbers who wore facemasks. pulled by Notre Dame's Brad Williams. Myung J. Chun/Daily News (3) USC quarterback points to the sky after scoring a touchdown during Saturday's 10-0 Trojan win over Notre Dame. Tina Gerson/Daily News (4) CUSANO BOX: USC vs. NOTRE DAME: A CLOSER LOOK (see text) |
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