(AP) The high point of Charlie Weis' three seasons as Notre Dame coach came two years ago — in a loss to Southern California.

It still stings.

"Does it bother me that people remember the high point being a loss? Absolutely," he said. "Who wants to be remembered for a loss?"

It's not the loss that everyone remembers so much. It's the drama involved and the hope it inspired.

Brady Quinn lunging for the go-ahead touchdown with 2:02 left. Matt Leinart threading the pass to Dwayne Jarrett on a fourth-and-9 for a 61-yard gain. Leinart diving for the goal line and the ball going out of bounds with the clock running down. Notre Dame fans swarming the field thinking the Irish won. Weis raising his arms in victory.

The officials putting 7 seconds back on the clock. Leinart spinning his way into the end zone with a push from Reggie Bush to win 34-31.

"That's a great memory for us all," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "We were fortunate to be on the winning side of that. Obviously it was so close it could have gone either way."

For a long time Weis said he would never describe a loss as a great game. He's softened.

"You don't get a chance in your career very often to be in a game that was a great football game. And it was that," he said. "I would have liked to have been on the other side of that, that's all."

Weis pulled out all the stops that week. He told Irish fans when to show up at Notre Dame Stadium so they could annoy the Trojans during their walkthrough. He moved the pep rally to the stadium so 45,000 people could attend. He brought in Joe Montana, Tim Brown, Chris Zorich and Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger to stoke the fans even further.

Then before the game, he surprised the players, having them warm up in their regular blue jerseys, then switching to green after warmups — the same way Dan Devine did in inspiring the Irish to a 49-19 victory over USC in 1977 on Notre Dame's way to the national championship.

The Irish will again be wearing green jerseys — and yellow pants — on Saturday in honor of that '77 team that Weis watched play from the stands when he was a senior.

The challenge for Weis is to create some of the magic Saturday that he did two years ago. With the Irish (1-6) and No. 13 USC (5-1) doing worse than expected this season, there's considerably less excitement. The pep rally will be held at the Joyce Center, as usual.

Weis will also have trouble using the same blueprint to beat the Trojans. Two years ago Notre Dame rushed for 153 yards and controlled the ball for 38:40 in nearly beating USC. It's hard to control the ball, though, when you can't run.

The Irish are averaging 32.1 yards rushing a game. That is not just the worst in the nation, but the worst of any major college team since at least 1999. Three USC tailbacks average better than that. Those facts alone are cause for concern, but the Irish are expected to be without injured leading rusher James Aldridge, who is averaging 35.6 yards a game rushing.

Notre Dame will give junior quarterback Evan Sharpley his first start, hoping he can spark the struggling offense. Carroll announced Friday that Mark Sanchez will make his second start for the Trojans, but John David Booty, who missed last week with a broken finger, can play if necessary.

"I think emotionally, I'll be a little more settled down," Sanchez said.

The Trojans are hoping after three weeks of lackluster play, including a loss to Stanford, they can regain their dominant form. They have beaten the Irish five straight times and are excited about playing at Notre Dame Stadium.

"You walk through the tunnel, you feel the energy, you see Touchdown Jesus," senior linebacker Thomas Williams said. "I feel so blessed to run through that tunnel. It's incredible. It's a big rivalry, that just adds to the excitement. We have a lot of things to prove to ourselves. How good can we be?"

That was the question Notre Dame fans were wondering after that loss two years ago. The future was so bright then that Irish fans began dreaming of national championships again and two weeks later Weis was rewarded with a 10-year contract that runs through 2015.

Now Irish fans just hope this season's struggles are a one-year aberration because of a young team — and that Weis will have Notre Dame back to its winning ways next season. Weis, meanwhile, is left trying to find a game plan that matches the one he devised two years ago. And he's still not happy with that one.

"I obviously didn't do enough," he said. "We did a lot of good things in the game — but obviously didn't do enough."