STANFORD, Calif. — As soon as the final whistle blew, the Notre Dame players gathered in the end zone to salute their fans and savor a season-ending victory.

The celebration continued in the locker room with multiple renditions of the school's fight song and pictures for the departing seniors. The Fighting Irish managed to put a positive finish on the worst season ever for college football's most storied team.

Robert Hughes ran for 136 yards and the go-ahead 6-yard touchdown with 6:06 remaining to help the Irish end the season with consecutive wins for the first time in 15 years by beating Stanford, 21-14, yesterday.

"When we were singing in there — and the last two games we didn't even worry about our record, just that we were winning those games," senior safety Tom Zbikowski said. "It feels good to get that feeling back of winning games."

But the Irish (3-9) know that the season-ending wins over Duke and Stanford can't erase all that went wrong earlier this season as the team set a school record for losses in Charlie Weis' third season at the school.

"It's still 3-9. Let's not kid ourselves," Weis said. "But at least it's 3-9 with two wins at the end of the year.

After Derek Belch missed his fourth field goal of the game for Stanford (3-8), a 49-yarder following an interception by Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame drove for the winning score. Hughes broke off a 44-yard run down to the Cardinal 8 and scored two plays later to make it 21-14.

ATLANTIC COAST

Maryland 37, North Carolina State 0: Lance Ball and Keon Lattimore rushed for two touchdowns apiece, and the Terrapins (6-6, 3-5) scored on four straight possessions in the first half to rout the Wolfpack (5-7, 3-5) at Raleigh, N.C., to become bowl eligible for the second consecutive year.

North Carolina 20, Duke 14: Greg Little ran for 154 yards, caught a 7-yard touchdown pass to tie it midway through the fourth quarter, then ran 25 yards on the Tar Heels' (4-8, 3-5) first play in overtime to beat the Blue Devils (1-11, 0-8) at Chapel Hill, N.C.

BIG EAST CONFERENCE

South Florida 48, Pittsburgh 37: Matt Grothe ran 80 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second half, Nate Allen and Trae Williams scored on interception returns, and Ben Moffitt's 60-yard interception return set up 1-yard TD run by Mike Ford as the Bulls (9-3, 4-3) rallied to beat the Panthers (4-7, 2-4) at Pittsburgh.

CONFERENCE USA

UCF 36, UTEP 20: Kevin Smith ran 219 yards and a touchdown on a school-record 46 carries, increasing his nation-leading total to 2,164, helping the Knights (9-3, 7-1), beat the Miners (4-8, 2-6) at Orlando, Fla., to secure the Conference USA East title. They will host Tulsa in the conference championship game Dec 1.

Tulsa 48, Rice 43: Paul Smith threw for 441 yards and five touchdowns and ran for another score to lead the Golden Hurricane (9-3, 6-2) over the Owls (3-9, 3-5) to capture the Conference USA West Division title at Houston.

East Carolina 35, Tulane 12: Chris Johnson ran for 155 yards and two touchdowns, and also caught a scoring pass as the Pirates (7-5, 6-2) rolled past the Green Wave (4-8, 3-5) at Greenville, N.C.

Memphis 55, SMU 52: Matt Reagan connected on a 32-yard field goal in the third overtime, lifting the Tigers over the Mustangs at Memphis, Tenn., in the final game for SMU coach Phil Bennett, who was told a month ago he would not return to the job.

MID-AMERICAN

Ball State 27, Northern Illinois 21: Sophomore quarterback Nate Davis threw two touchdown passes and rushed for another as the Cardinals (7-5, 5-2) beat the Huskies (2-10, 1-6) at Dekalb, Ill., to earn a share of the Mid-American West Division crown. Despite the co-championship, the Cardinals won't appear in next month's MAC title game. Central Michigan earned the berth with a 58-38 victory over the Cardinals in early October.

Ohio 38, Miami (Ohio) 29: Kalvin McRae rushed for 112 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown run for a 21-17 lead the host Bobcats (6-6, 4-4) never lost in rallying past the RedHawks (6-6, 5-2) at Athens, Ohio.

MOUNTAIN WEST

Texas Christian 45, San Diego State 33: Joseph Turner ran for a career-high 226 yards and four touchdowns, and the Horned Frogs (7-5, 4-4) rallied from a 17-0 first-quarter deficit to beat the Aztecs (4-7, 3-4) in San Diego.

SOUTHEASTERN

Wake Forest 31, Vanderbilt 17: Josh Adams ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns, and Alphonso Smith had two interceptions to lead a defense that forced five turnovers as the Demon Deacons (8-4) of the ACC shattered any chance the Commodores (5-7) of SEC had to make their first bowl game in 25 years at Nashville, Tenn.