STANFORD, Calif. -- Anthony Johnson scored on runs of 7 and 1 yards and No. 1 Notre Dame survived a 282-yard passing attack by Stanford's Steve Smith to take a 27-17 victory over the Cardinal.
Smith completed 39 of 68 passes on the day, both records against a Notre Dame defense and three attempts shy of the NCAA record of 71 set by Northwestern's Sandy Schwab in 1982. Jim Price tied a school record with 14 catches.
The Fighting Irish intercepted Smith three times, one leading to a score and the another thwarting a late Stanford threat. Notre Dame, 5-0, won its 17th straight game. They have outscored opponents 148-69 this season.
Stanford had the ball on its own 20 and trailed only 24-17 with 6:30 to go but Pat Terrell's interception set up a 18-yard Craig Hentrich field goal that put the game out of reach.
Terrell grabbed another errant Smith aerial with a minute left to finish off Stanford's hopes.
Raghib Ismail, the nation's leader in kickoff returns, used a 66-yard return to set up Notre Dame's go-ahead touchdown after Stanford had tied the score 14-14 midway through the third quarter.
Ismail grabbed a short kick and returned it to the Cardinal 16-yard line. Four plays later, Johnson drove over from the 1 to put the Fighting Irish ahead 21-14.
Stanford halted the Irish on the 2 before Hentrich's 20-yard field goal made the score 24-14. The Cardinal then drove deep into Notre Dame territory before bogging down and settling for a 27-yard field goal by John Hopkins.
The Cardinal did a solid job of defending against Notre Dame quarterback Tony Rice, one of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy. But Rice passed for 102 yards and ran for 71 more, giving him 990 yards in his first five games.
Stanford took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on a 34-yard field goal by Hopkins. A 21-yard pass from Smith to Ed McCaffrey and a roughing-the-kicker call during a missed field-goal try gave Hopkins another shot. The field goal was the first points the Fighting Irish had surrendered in the first period all season and marked the first time they had trailed in a game.
A shanked punt later gave the Cardinal the ball on the Notre Dame 32. That set up a 42-yarder from Hopkins to put Stanford ahead 6-0.
The Fighting Irish, plagued by penalties throughout, took a 7-6 lead early in the second quarter. Johnson ran 25 yards, Rice romped 38 yards on a keeper and Johnson tallied from the 7 in the 3-play drive.
Notre Dame moved ahead 14-6late in the half. D'Juan Francisco's interception on a tipped Smith pass gave the Fighting Irish the ball on the Stanford 32. Rodney Culver culminated a 9-play drive by rolling in from the 2.
Smith pulled the Cardinal even on the opening drive of the third quarter, driving Stanford 79 yards. McCaffrey caught a 28-yarder, drew an interference call in the end zone, and then made a leaping catch for a 2-yard TD. Tommy Vardell ran in a 2-point conversion attempt to tie the score 14-14.
