BY MICHAEL LEV
SOUTH BEND, Ind. ? Notre Dame's 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second quarter was doubly damaging for USC on Saturday night.
Not only did George Atkinson III's runback give the Fighting Irish much-needed momentum, it also sent Trojans kicker Andre Heidari to the sideline with a sprained right ankle.
Heidari fell while trying to tackle Atkinson. Heidari said a Notre Dame player then stepped on his ankle.
Heidari got the ankle taped and received a painkilling injection. But the freshman barely cleared the crossbar on an extra-point attempt late in the third quarter and badly missed a field-goal attempt early in the fourth in USC's 31-17 victory.
"I've never kicked with tape on my foot," Heidari said after the game before limping up the tunnel toward the locker room.
Heidari had made 11 of 12 field-goal attempts before the fourth-quarter miss. He removed the tape and smoothly converted an extra point later in the quarter.
"The kid is a warrior," special-teams coordinator John Baxter said. "I guarantee you he was grinning and bearing it."
Baxter wasn't smiling about Atkinson's return against USC's usually sound coverage unit.
"When you play defense, you've got to get the fits right," Baxter said. "Obviously, we missed a fit."
PLAYING HURT
Heidari wasn't the only Trojan playing through injury.
Senior tailback Marc Tyler and freshman receiver Marqise Lee started despite suffering shoulder injuries last week at Cal. Tyler had a dislocated left shoulder, Lee a sprained right shoulder.
"They both had the same attitude," USC coach Lane Kiffin said. "They said the whole time, 'I'm playing.'"
Tyler rushed for 67 yards on 13 carries. He sat out much of the second half after hyper-extending a knee.
Lee had two receptions for 36 yards.
DILLON BAXTER UPDATE
Kiffin declined toon why sophomore tailback Dillon Baxter did not accompany the team to South Bend.
Kiffin said he would meet with Baxter upon returning to Los Angeles and would have more information during his teleconference with the media Sunday night.
USC was allowed to bring as many players as it wanted on this trip because it was a non-conference game.
ROBUST ROBEY
A key to USC's victory was cornerback Nickell Robey shutting down Notre Dame's leading receiver, Michael Floyd.
Robey, who's 5-foot-8, limited the 6-3 Floyd to four receptions for 28 yards. Floyd had 53 catches for 639 yards and four touchdowns in Notre Dame's first six games.
"I came out with the mindset that I was going to protect our team. I was going to come out and play my best game," Robey said. "I wanted to show my talent to the world, and I feel like I did that tonight."
Contact the writer: mlev@ocregister.com
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