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SOUTH BEND, Indiana (Ticker) -- Bill Burke threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Gari Scott with 5:11 remaining as undefeated Michigan State added to Notre Dame's woes with a 23-13 victory. Burke hit Scott at the Michigan State 40 and the receiver did the rest, breaking a tackle and racing untouched down the left sideline to break a 13-13 tie. Scott finished with four receptions for 110 yards. The long score came only 33 seconds after Notre Dame tied it on Jim Sanson's 34-yard field goal. The Fighting Irish were forced to punt on their next possession and the Spartans (3-0) put away the contest with 11 seconds left on a 31-yard field goal by Paul Edinger, his third in the final period. Michigan State has won the last three meetings with Notre Dame and cut the Fighting Irish's lead in the all-time series to 41-21-1. The defeat saddled Notre Dame (1-3) with its first three-game losing streak since starting 1-4 in 1997, Bob Davie's first year as coach. Coming off back-to-back heartbreaking road defeats to Michigan and Purdue in which they ran out of time deep in the opponents' territory, the Fighting Irish were looking to turn things around in the opener of a five-game homestand. Notre Dame also was hoping to avenge last season's 45-23 loss at Michigan State, but the Irish sputtered offensively throughout. They also surrendered 16 points in the final period. Notre Dame was held scoreless until Jarious Jackson tossed a 14-yard TD pass to Bobby Brown with nine seconds remaining in the first half. But the Irish managed only two field goals by Sanson in the second half. They took a 10-7 lead on Sanson's 33-yard field goal nine seconds into the fourth quarter, but Edinger converted kicks of 24 and 33 yards to put the Spartans in front, 13-10. Burke completed 22-of-37 passes for 291 yards and two touchdowns, including an eight-yard scoring strike to Chris Baker 11 seconds into the second period. Lloyd Clemons rushed for 127 yards on 22 carries. Jackson was 15-of-26 for 245 yards and one interception while Tony Fisher led Notre Dame on the ground with 57 yards on 13 carries. Raki Nelson had six receptions for 117 yards.
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