No. 11 Notre Dame 38, USC 21

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Notre Dame's third starting quarterback of the season proved to be the best one. <br><br>Freshman Matt LoVecchio ran for two touchdowns and engineered an efficient offense, and the

Saturday, November 25th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Notre Dame's third starting quarterback of the season proved to be the best one.

Freshman Matt LoVecchio ran for two touchdowns and engineered an efficient offense, and the 11th-ranked Fighting Irish turned two blocked punts into touchdowns and a pair of interceptions into two more scores Saturday in beating mistake-prone Southern California 38-21.

By winning for the seventh straight time since LoVecchio became their starting quarterback, the Irish (9-2) are in line for a Bowl Series Championship game _ likely the Fiesta Bowl _ and a $13.5 million payday. Notre Dame was 5-7 a year ago.

The Trojans (5-7), meanwhile, endured their first losing season 1991, and just their third in the last 39 years.

It's likely the game was the last one at USC for coach Paul Hackett, whose teams have a 19-18 record in three seasons. It's been speculated that Hackett, who has two years remaining on his contract, will be fired as early as Sunday.

The win was the first for the Irish over USC in Los Angeles since 1992. Losses to the Trojans at the Coliseum in 1996 and 1998 cost them lucrative bowl bids, but it was a different story on this sunny day.

LoVecchio completed 9 of 14 passes for 142 yards, and rushed for 45 yards on 11 carries. He scored on a 13-yard run early in the second quarter that snapped a 7-all tie and put the Irish ahead for good, and a 1-yarder on fourth-and-goal late in the third period.

Tony Fisher gained 71 yards on 15 carries, and Julius Jones picked up 71 yards on 20 carries for the Irish.

USC's Carson Palmer was 17-of-35 for 251 yards, but was intercepted twice and lost a fumble, giving the Trojans 36 turnovers this season compared to 17 by the opposition.

The Irish didn't commit a turnover, leaving them with only eight compared to 22 by their opponents.

Notre Dame extended a 21-14 halftime lead to two touchdowns on LoVecchio's second TD, which came five plays after Glenn Earl's interception at the Notre Dame 48.

USC drew within seven points on Palmer's 10-yard pass to Antoine Harris on the first play of the fourth quarter, but the Irish made it 31-21 on a 39-yard field goal by Nick Setta with 12:09 to play.

The Trojans then moved to the Notre Dame 39, but Palmer was then sacked twice in a row and USC wound up punting. The Irish then moved 80 yards _ all on the ground _ for the clinching touchdown, a 2-yard run by Jones with 2:57 left.

Notre Dame took a 7-0 lead on Terrance Howard's 1-yard run, capping a 40-yard drive after David Givens partially blocked Mike MacGillivray's punt, which traveled only 14 yards.

USC tied the game on a 3-yard bootleg by Palmer to cap a 65-yard drive, but Notre Dame scored twice in a span of less than four minutes early in the second period for a 21-7 lead.

First, Chad DeBolt blocked a punt by MacGillivray, and the Irish needed only four plays plus a roughing the passer penalty to move 50 yards for the go-ahead touchdown, scored by LoVecchio.

Three plays later, Tony Driver returned an interception 43 yards to the Trojans' 19, setting up a 1-yard scoring run by Fisher.

On USC's next possession, Notre Dame coach Bob Davie came on the field and had to be restrained after a defensive holding penalty on a third-down incompletion. Palmer threw a 59-yard touchdown pass to Kareem Kelly on the very next play.

The game was played before crowd of 81,342. The Irish lead the series with USC 41-26-5.