Fourth-and-nine at their own 26, less than two minutes remaining. Sixty-one yards later, USC is within field goal range, the Irish holding tightly to a 31-28 lead. A couple minutes later, after fumbling the ball out of bounds at the one on the previous play, Matt Leinart sneaks into the end zone with three seconds left on the clock.
ESPN’s Gene Wojciechowski is already calling this back-and-forth contest “The Greatest Game Ever Played“:
“Wow. Even the goalposts had goose bumps. Seven seconds left. USC with the ball inside the Notre Dame 1-yard line. No timeouts remaining for the Trojans. Star running back Reggie Bush cramping up. The geeked-up sellout crowd near sideline’s edge, just waiting to storm the field.”
You gotta hand it to Charlie Weis and the Domers — they had this game in their hands, up until that sensational 61-yard pass to Dwayne Jarrett. Meanwhile, are Leinart and USC unstoppable? At this point, they may just be.
