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by Rick Eymer
Palo Alto Online Sports

The Big Game loss took a little longer to shake but when it came time to begin preparations for Notre Dame, the Stanford football team was eager to get going again.

Redshirt freshman Andrew Luck owns regrets about his fatal interception. Coach Jim Harbaugh owns regrets about play calling. Running back Toby Gerhart still seethes about the loss, but is ready to move on. Offensive lineman Chase Beeler wanted to forget, but relived the experience more than once over the weekend.

In a year drenched with success, perhaps the Cardinal needed the hint of failure to keep its dreams in perspective.

The Rose Bowl is out, and even a win last Saturday would not have kept the Cardinal in contention. There is, however, another game to play; another home game against another storied program.

"Notre Dame is the only team in my four years we haven't beaten," Gerhart pointed out. "They're a traditional power with a lot of history."

The Irish, with an entirely different set of problems of their own, come to town for the regular season finale Saturday. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. and a national audience will be watching, courtesy of ABC. Stanford hopes its Cardinal Luck, not the luck of the Irish, will prevail.

"8-4 has a much better ring to it than 7-5," Beeler said. "9-3 would have sounded better but that's not possible now. What is important is for us to make something happen for the seniors."

Beeler and Luck each took mutual responsibility for mishandled shotgun snaps against Cal, and for plays that couldn't be made. If anything, though, the center and signal caller have to realize that the biggest mistakes of their young careers have been made. Mistakes are random, confidence is permanent.

"A couple of times I know I have thought about not messing up and that's when I mess up," Luck said. "I learned from that and I go out thinking about success and the best thing I can do."

Luck, Harbaugh and most of the Stanford players will never be accused of playing not to lose. That's why the Cardinal goes for it on fourth down deep in its own territory and that's why Luck took a shot at the end zone instead of playing it safe. They play to win.

"We lost a game," Harbaugh said. "We didn't lose our integrity, we didn't lose our confidence and we didn't lose who we are."

Stanford did lose a coach in assistant Willie Taggart, who accepted the head coaching position at Western Kentucky. He will coach through Saturday's game before heading to his alma mater.

"It's sad to lose a friend but he's a great coach and teacher and has success as a recruiter," Harbaugh said. "He's just so genuine. I feel like the proud older brother. It's really cool."

Taggart's duties will likely be assumed by graduate assistant Casey Moore, a Stanford grad who played under Tyrone Willingham as a fullback. He still holds the Big Game record for longest run, a 94-yarder in 1999 that was designed to get the Cardinal out of trouble.

Stanford moves forward, hoping to give the seniors a win in their final home game.
"We have to get back to basics and do what we do best," Gerhart said. "That's getting after people."

Gerhart likely will be playing his final game in a Cardinal uniform. He's not fully committed, but understands if he's rated high enough in the draft, he'll be getting ready for the NFL combine and giving up college sports, including baseball.

"I'm not going to do anything until after the bowl game," Gerhart said. "I want to play football as long as I can. My dad is a coach; I grew up around the game and I love the game."

When Harbaugh was first introduced as the Stanford coach in December of 2006, he said he wanted to play football as long as he could and then coach until he died. Heck, he started coaching, with his father, while he was still playing in the NFL.

Gerhart said he could see himself doing the same thing down the road.

"There's still a bit of football to played this year and "winning the final game for the seniors would be a big deal," said Luck.
"8-4 is staring us in the face," Harbaugh said. "We have to go get it."

NOTES: Notre Dame was won the past seven meetings with Stanford, including the final game ever played at the old Stanford Stadium on Nov. 26, 2005. The last Cardinal win was a 17-13 victory in 2001, the last season Stanford recorded a winning record . . . Stanford needs 11 points to become the third team in school history to record 400 points or more, including the team record 422 scored in, you guessed it, 2001 . . . The Cardinal needs to rush for 70 yards to establish the school mark for single-season team rushing. The 1949 edition ground out 2,481 yards . . . Stanford ranks second in the nation in allowing sacks (0.55 per game) . . . Chris Owusu and Cardinal teammate Sean Wiser were receivers for Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Claussen in high school.<