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Time stood still in USC, Notre Dame classic last week

There is a unique electricity standing on the sidelines at the end of a tense college football game, surrounded by stressed-out fans. The past two California-USC games produced it. So did the Arizona State-USC game a few weeks ago.

But none of those moments compared to the final five minutes at Notre Dame Stadium last Saturday. For one thing, everything is just a little more special because of the intimate setting.

Legendary Irish coach Knute Rockne purposely reduced the open space around the field to prevent "sideline visitors." Standing underneath the goal post in the fateful end zone where USC quarterback Matt Leinart scored the controversial winning touchdown, I was shoulder-to-shoulder with fans, ushers and photographers all squirming to watch the final seconds.

Many around me stormed the field moments before Leinart's touchdown, thinking Notre Dame won on the previous play. Adding to the setting, the mosaic Touchdown Jesus stared down at us from the Notre Dame library.

The drama got to just about everyone. Ushers forgot their duties and debated with fans exactly what happened on Leinart's fumble. They didn't know for several seconds how to get celebrating fans off the field or whether they needed to.

But it wasn't their fault. NBC announcer Tom Hammond didn't even know what happened, saying, "Notre Dame has won!" after Leinart was stopped short of the goal line.

When Leinart fumbled, the crowd around me was less than 10 yards away from the play, but thought a Notre Dame player recovered the loose ball, the game was over and USC lost even as the referees tried to figure out what happened.

That led to a storming of the field and one of the sternest public-address announcements ever to get off the field.

I thought for a second about the 1972 Olympics and USA-USSR basketball game where the USA won, only to replay the finish two more times. I wondered if Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis considered pulling his team off the field.

Once cleared, the fans weren't even sent to the stands, but packed around the sidelines, adding to the chaos. Others would say the cozy setting makes Notre Dame Stadium the best setting in America.

While it might have been the most exciting five minutes in years, it's silly to label this the "greatest game ever" or "greatest win in USC history." This stems largely from a "If I was there, it was the greatest" phenomenon.

Not too many people today remember that USC defeated No. 1-ranked Notre Dame 16-14 in 1931. The Trojans trailed 14-0 entering the fourth quarter and won on a 33-yard field goal by Johnny Baker with one minute left.

It snapped two-time champion Notre Dame's 26-game winning streak, and more importantly, about 300,000 greeted the Trojans in a victory parade when they returned home.

The national radio audience was 10 million, the largest audience in broadcast history up to that time. How many were waiting Saturday night when USC's plane landed at LAX?

ANOTHER QUESTION

If USC attempted a dropback pass with 23 seconds left instead of a rollout last Saturday, the Trojans could run off four pass plays instead of being forced to do-or-die with two "runs."

Fortunately, for the Trojans, it didn't matter.

Leinart came back to Los Angeles an even bigger hero and said Tuesday the expectations are starting to wear on him after returning for his Heisman Trophy winning season.

It's certainly not from media demands. USC allows reporters to talk to him for five minutes once a week.

Meanwhile, tailback Reggie Bush is available every day and doesn't mind the attention.

"It comes with the territory when you've won two national championships," Bush said.
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