Oct. 15, 2005

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NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH Charlie Weis QUOTES

On what he told team after the game: "Obviously we're disappointed, but at the end we had a chance to ice the game on special teams, on offense and on defense. When you have a chance against a team like USC, you better take advantage of it."

On the Notre Dame game plan: "We wanted to possess the ball by not turning it over and ball possession. That was the plan. For the most part, we took care of business. We kept moving the ball, making first downs. We wanted to shorten the game and for the most part we did."

On game being a moral victory: "If you're waiting for me to say it was a good loss, you won't hear that here. Losing is losing, there are no moral victories. What I did tell them was not to hang their heads. That was a slugfest; a street fight. That was a good football game."

On team's attitude going into the game: "We went in expecting to win. I like to see that. I don't know what anyone else thought, but they thought that they were going to win. They're disappointed. They played hard for 60 minutes. We just didn't make enough plays; the coaches didn't make enough good calls."

On Reggie Bush: "He's a dynamic player. He's the reincarnation of Marshall Faulk. He can do it all, and he did today. He's a great player."

On Notre Dame coming out with green jerseys: "Henry (Scroope, ND equipment manager) and I talked in the summer and I told him to have a set (green jerseys) made. I thought maybe if we made it to a bowl game, it would be a nice way to fire the kids up. This game was like a bowl game. If you could have seen how fired up when they went back in the locker room and saw them. They worked so hard preparing for this game. I thought that I'd give them something back."

Getting team ready for next game versus BYU: "I knew that as disappointing this was that I would have to talk about BYU. This was such an emotional game. I changed the schedule for next week, giving the players tomorrow off to spend time with their families and friends. They're disappointed, but it's our job to bring them back."

Notre Dame player quotes

Senior DB Mike Richardson
On today's Game...
"It was a hard fought game on both sides. They just made more plays than we did towards the end. There's nothing else more you can do but fight to the end. When it comes down to being that close, your ultimate goal is to win. It really hurts."

On the defense...
"Our main goal was to stop the run, and they popped up with a couple of big plays and long runs, but all and all it just came down to those last couple of plays that were made towards the end of the game."

On this USC game versus the past few years...
"Being such a big game and coming down to the wire like that and losing, it hurts so much more."

Junior WR Jeff Samardzija
On what's next...
"We have a lot of great leaders on this team. We have a lot of guys that come out and know how to play this game and to react to different situations. So I think everyone is going to understand and learn something from it [the game]. We're ready to move on, and we will keep our heads up and get ready for the next game."

On the end of the game...
"From my understanding it was a fumble out of bounds and in that case the clock should stop. I guess it stopped at seven seconds and that's the word that got to us on the sidelines. It's something we have to live with, but everybody played tough. You can't take anything away from USC; they played a great game and made more plays than us."

Junior DB Tom Zbikowski
On Matt Leinart's 4th-quarter fumble at Notre Dame's one yard line...
"I saw the hit and I saw the ball go flying. I got a little excited but it was obviously premature, and I knew another play was coming."

On his team's expectations for the game...
"We believed we could win and I think it showed on the field."

Senior TE Anthony Fasano
On his team's final offensive drive...
"That was what our offense has been doing all year, taking long drives. We happened to step up at a key point, but we just didn't do enough earlier in the game."

On the team's reaction to the loss...
"After a loss you have to think of your team's situation, where you are, and who you have to play next week. We've got to learn how to finish somebody and move on."

USC HEAD COACH PETE CARROLL QUOTES

Opening Statement: "We feel very fortunate to come out of here with a win. This is one of those games you will see on one of those Classic channels somewhere soon. It was a tremendous win. I am very happy to come out of here with a win today. Notre Dame played an awesome game and I am very happy with the way my guys played today as well."

On the USC win: "I have been in a couple of games like this. It was a very special win out there today. There are so few times you get the opportunity to win a game like that at any level. That it is just awesome to come away with a win."

On the final play of the game: "Matt Leinert has the choice on that play to either spike it or go for the quarterback sneak. We were telling him from the sideline to go for it. He didn't think he could make it and he turned to Reggie Bush and Reggie said go for it. He wasn't all that confident he could do it, but he snapped the ball and made it."

On the USC 28 game winning streak: "When you are playing with a streak, you try not to think about it. The streak is not a topic we ever discuss. We all just want to keep it going and these guys showed tonight that they are not just going to give up no matter what the odds are."

On the future of Notre Dame: "This Notre Dame team is a very good team. The defense is going to come around and they are going to be a dominant force in the years to come. The offense is very good with quarterback Brady Quinn and running back Darius Walker they are going to have a very good rest of the season. I just know and hope that this rivalry will continue to be a very good game for years to come."

USC player quotes

Reggie Bush, RB
Overall Comments ...
"By far the best victory I have ever been a part of, just for how we won the game. We never gave up and the world didn't think we were going to win this game. It's just great to win a game like this."

On the play of both teams ...
"I was not surprised at all by Notre Dame's effort. They have a great team over there and a great coach. We really kept them in the game by the amount of mental mistakes we made and the dropped passes we had and we didn't pick-up the blitzes right."

Keith Rivers, LB
Overall Comments ...
"Everything is about finishing. You can't win a game in the second or third quarter but you can win the game in the fourth quarter and that's what we did."

On Notre Dame's play selection ...
"We were expecting the pass a little more. Brady Quinn is a great quarterback and he certainly showed that today. We were just trying to keep the ball underneath and it front of us and we were able to do that for the most part. They did wear us down a little bit mentally since we were on the field a lot."

Notre Dame's late fourth quarter drive to take the lead ...
"Anytime the opposition gets on your side of the field that quickly, you are going to be surprised. Luckily, our offense came through and we came out with a victory."

Matt Leinart, QB
After he scored the winning touchdown ...
"I was in shock. I didn't want to celebrate till the clock hit zero because who knows what can happen in three seconds. It was just a great game and I'm still really speechless. I would imagine this will go down as one of the greatest games ever played."

On Notre Dame's defense ...
"They played exactly how we thought they would. They did pressure us a little more than we thought and put pressure on me and that can get you off rhythm a little bit, but they did what we thought and I missed some easy throws that would have been big plays.

On the play before the game winning QB sneak ...
"We were trying to throw it low and get a quick hit but it is tough to hit those and they covered it well. I probably could have got in the endzone on that play but the ball got popped out."

On the fourth and eight during the final drive ...
"Dwayne made a great move on the defensive back and the ball just fit in there perfectly and he just took off and did the rest. I actually thought I under-threw the ball."