That California Earthquake

The game was a statistician's dream. Haden, a potential Rhodes scholar, equaled the USC record for most touchdown passes in a game, with four. Davis upped his career Pacific-8 rushing record to 3,657 yards and his touchdown total against Notre Dame to 11. The Trojans have not lost in the Coliseum in 20 games. USC fell just four points short of the most ever run up against the Irish (a Blanchard-Davis Army team scored 59 in 1944). USC's 35 points in the third quarter were the most ever given up by the Irish in one period. Nine out of 10 Notre Dame fans interviewed in the parking lots thought Davis returned kickoffs so well because he has thin blood.

USC fans streaming out of the huge stadium were thinking of Buckeye blood, thick or thin. You see, if USC beats Ohio State in the Rose Bowl and Notre Dame cooperates by beating undefeated Alabama in the Orange Bowl, with undefeated Oklahoma excluded from the UPI poll, McKay could have his fourth national championship. Or at least half of it. He'll take it.