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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) -- Right down to the final seconds of their
first losing season since 1986, the Fighting Irish were ruined by
the mistakes that have haunted them all year.
There were just too many turnovers and too many defensive
breakdowns as Notre Dame lost 40-37 to Rose Bowl-bound Stanford (No. 25 ESPN/USA Today poll, unranked AP) on the final play Saturday night.
|  | | Mike Biselli gets a boost from Jeff Cronshagen after Biselli's boot beat Notre Dame. |
"I doubt we've ever given up as many big plays as we've given
up this year," Notre Dame coach Bob Davie said. "When you can't
cover and you self-destruct and turn the ball over, you can't
win."
Mike Biselli kicked a 22-yard field goal, his fourth of the
game, as the clock expired. It completed a 68-yard drive that
included a roughing the passer penalty on Notre Dame's Anthony
Denman and a 21-yard pass from Todd Husak to DeRonnie Pitts that
got the ball to the Irish 5.
Notre Dame tied it at 37 with 1:32 left on a 5-yard scoring pass
from Jarious Jackson to Jabari Holloway and a two-point conversion
by Joey Getherall.
Troy Walters caught scoring passes of 62 and 38 yards from
Husak, and Aaron Focht returned a fumble 37 yards for a touchdown
as Stanford (8-3) built an early lead and then had to rally to
defeat Notre Dame (5-7).
"The game was sort of like our season -- a lot of ups and
downs," Husak said. "I like the way it ended with the two-minute
drive. I thought they had made a mistake giving us a minute and a
half. Any time you have receivers like we do, it puts a lot of
pressure on the defensive backs."
Tony Fisher scored three times for the Irish, who fell behind
14-0 in the opening 88 seconds, but battled back to lead twice
before ending up with seven losses in a season for the first time
since 1963.
"It's unfortunate to go 5-7. I never want to be in this
situation again, and I never want this football team to be in this
situation again," Davie said. "I feel bad that we're a 5-7 team
and the seniors have to leave like that, but I'm not embarrassed by
this football team."
Stanford, playing in the Rose Bowl for the first time in 28
years, avoided the embarrassment of going unranked into
that Jan. 1 showdown against No. 4 Wisconsin.
Walters, who broke the Pac-10 record for yards receiving in a
season with 183 yards on eight catches against the Irish, gave
Stanford a 30-29 lead late in the third period with his 38-yard TD
reception.
Backup quarterback Joe Borchard added a 2-yard scoring run with
8:13 remaining to give Stanford a 37-29 lead. Stanford, which won a
non-conference game for the first time in three attempts this
season, handed Notre Dame its fourth straight loss and its seventh
straight on the road.
"We were up, we were down, but it showed the character of this
team by coming out on top. We had nothing to play for, but we hung
in there and kept playing," Walters said. "Now we take momentum
into the Rose Bowl."
Biselli added field goals of 47, 34 and 31 yards for Stanford,
which lost defensive leader Willie Howard with a strained right
knee in the first quarter. The defensive tackle's availability for
the Rose Bowl was not immediately clear.
Fisher scored on runs of 9 and 1 yards and caught a 42-yard
scoring pass from Jackson. Julius Jones added a 24-yard scoring
run.
Walters set a Pac-10 record with 1,456 yards receiving this
season, breaking the mark of 1,373 yards set by Johnnie Morton of
Southern California in 1993.
Walters already holds Pac-10 career records for receptions (245)
and yards receiving (3,995). He broke Morton's record on a 15-yard
catch in the second period.
Jackson, who split the playing time with sophomore Arnaz Battle
in his final game for the Irish, set school records for completions
(184) and attempts (316) in a season and added to his record for
yards passing (2,753) in a season.
The first 88 seconds of the game seemed to epitomize everything
that has gone wrong for Notre Dame this season.
On Stanford's second play, Walters got behind the defense for
the 62-yard scoring bomb from Husak. And two plays later, Notre
Dame's Dan O'Leary fumbled after catching a short pass and the
loose ball was returned 37 yards by Focht for a 14-0 Stanford lead
with 13:32 left in the first quarter.
Jones fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and the teams then traded
interceptions before Biselli made it 17-0 with his 31-yard field
goal.
With Battle at quarterback, Notre Dame drove 72 yards, scoring
on Fisher's 1-yard run. And Jackson passed to a wide-open Fisher
early in the second quarter to pull the Irish within 17-14.
After Biselli kicked his 47-yarder, Fisher got his third
touchdown on a 9-yard run to give the Irish their first lead at
21-20. But Biselli kicked a 34-yard field goal as the clock ran out
in the first half to give Stanford a 23-21 halftime lead.
Jones scored early in the third period and Fisher ran for the
two-point conversion to give Notre Dame a 29-23 lead, capping a
drive on which the Irish converted a fourth-and-1 on their own 43.
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
Notre Dame Clubhouse
Stanford Clubhouse
College football Top 25 overview
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Troy Walters' 62 yard TD pass from Todd Husak.
avi: 1054 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Todd Husak goes 38 yards to Troy Walters for the TD.
avi: 1117 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Aaron Focht scores on a 37 yard fumble return.
avi: 1120 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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