Irish remain No. 9

Notre Dame’s loss to Southern California didn’t hurt the Fighting Irish in the Associated Press Top 25. Nor did the Trojans take a hit from voters for needing a dramatic comeback to win their 28th straight game.

The Irish lost some points, but remained No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday, a day after losing 34-31 to USC in a game that will go down as one of the best in the history of the storied rivalry.

The Trojans needed Matt Leinart’s 1-yard TD sneak with 3 second left to finally subdue the kelly green-clad Irish in South Bend, Ind. But USC wasn’t punished for the close victory. The Trojans received 57 first-place votes in the media poll, one fewer than last week. USC has been No. 1 for a record 26 straight polls.

“I really thought both teams showed a lot in such a pressure-packed game,” said Joey Goodman of the Lawton Constitution in Oklahoma. He moved up Notre Dame one spot on his ballot from last week to No. 11.

“That game had been built up so much, I thought they handled it pretty well.”

No. 2 Texas, a 42-17 winner against Colorado, picked up an extra first-place vote, giving the Longhorns eight. The first three was unchanged with No. 3 Virginia Tech having the week off.

No. 4 Georgia, No. 5 Alabama and No. 6 Miami all moved up one spot after Florida State lost for the first time.

The Seminoles fell seven spot to No. 11 after losing to Virginia, 26-21.

No. 7 is LSU, followed by unbeaten UCLA, Notre Dame and Texas Tech, which is also 6-0. The Red Raiders have their highest ranking since being No. 7 early in the 1977 season.

There are seven unbeaten teams left in Division I-A and all of them are now ranked in the top 10 in the AP poll.

In the USA Today coaches’ poll, the top five is the same as in the AP poll with USC, Texas, Virginia Tech, Georgia and Alabama.