LOS ANGELES (AP) - Southern California's youthful Trojans didn't need any last-second heroics to beat Notre Dame this year.

They had too much speed, too much defense, and too much Dwayne Jarrett.

John David Booty passed for 265 yards and three touchdowns to Jarrett, USC did an exceptional job containing Notre Dame's Brady Quinn, and the Trojans topped the Fighting Irish 44-24 Saturday night.

Not only did No. 3 USC put the sixth-ranked Irish away, the Trojans surely did enough to moved ahead of No. 2 Michigan in the national championship race.

Should the Trojans (10-1) beat UCLA (6-5) at the Rose Bowl next weekend, they'll probably face top-ranked Ohio State in the BCS title game Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz. USC has beaten its crosstown rivals seven straight times.

The Trojans played in the BCS title game the past two years -- winning one and losing one -- and earned a piece of the national championship three years ago after being bypassed for the title game.

Booty, who completed 17-of-28 passes and was intercepted twice, watched from the sideline when the Trojans beat the Irish 34-31 at Notre Dame last year on Matt Leinart's 1-yard sneak with three seconds remaining.

Jarrett, whose 61-yard reception on a fourth-and-9 play kept that final drive in South Bend alive, caught scoring passes of 9, 5 and 43 yards from Booty, who succeeded Leinart as USC's quarterback. The 43-yarder came with 8:21 remaining and gave the Trojans a 37-17 lead.

I watched the game with a bunch of American expats at The Colonial Sportsbook in downtown San Jose. By the end of the third quarter, the only people left were Trojan fans. USC's defense won this game. They dominated the Irish in the Red Zone (Inside the Trojan 20), and stopped them on 5 of 7 4th down conversion attempts, while making both of theirs. Despite Booty throwing two interceptions and the Trojans having a punt blocked, which led to a score, the Trojan defense manhandled the Iris, and on the few plays where they were beaten, it was usually because they overran the play, or missed a tackle in the backfield.

Oh what a night!

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