WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — With the game on the line, Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis put the game in the hands of his hobbled star.

Gimpy Jimmy Clausen completed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Rudolph with 24.8 seconds to play, and Notre Dame rallied for a 24-21 win over Purdue last night.

Clausen, slowed by a turf toe injury on his right foot, split time with Dayne Crist. Though Crist directed two touchdown drives with the Wildcat offense in the first half, Clausen returned to the game when it got tight in the fourth quarter. Weis didn't want Clausen to play in the second half, but he said there was no doubt who was going to finish if it got close.

"We started talking about it early in the fourth quarter, and he (Clausen) had started politicking before that," Weis said. "He said that he felt fine and if the game got to the situation where we needed to put him in there, he said put him in there. I listened to him."

The Fighting Irish (3-1) took over trailing 21-17 with 3:41 to go. Clausen completed a 22-yard pass to Rudolph to move the ball to the Purdue 32, but a sack forced Notre Dame into a third-and-14. Clausen completed a 15-yard pass to Robby Parris for a first down. A 17-yarder to Golden Tate set up a first-and-goal at the 4. After three plays netted two yards, Clausen found Rudolph in the end zone on fourth down for the winner.

Joey Elliott passed for 289 yards and three touchdowns in his best game of the season for Purdue (1-3). Keith Smith caught 11 passes and tied a career high with 136 yards.

Purdue's three losses are by a combined 11 points.

BIG TEN

Minnesota 35, Northwestern 24: Duane Bennett ran for three touchdowns and Adam Weber passed for two scores as the Golden Gophers (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) held on at Evanston, Ill., after losing to the Wildcats (2-2, 0-1) in the final seconds the two previous years.

ACC

North Carolina State 38, Pittsburgh 31: Toney Baker scored from 2 yards out with 6:28 left and the Wolfpack (3-1) made a late defensive stand to turn back the Panthers at Raleigh, N.C. in a game that produced 830 total yards.

Rutgers 34, Maryland 13: George Johnson recovered a fumble in the end zone for a TD to give the Scarlet Knights a 17-13 lead late in the third quarter and Joe Martinek scored twice in the final five minutes in a victory over the Terrapins at College Park, Md.

Boston College 27, Wake Forest 24: After Steve Aponavicius kicked a 23-yard field goal to give the Eagles (3-1, 1-1 ACC) a 27-24 lead in overtime, Wes Davis recovered a fumble by the driving Demon Deacons (2-2, 0-1) on their possession to end it.

Duke 49, North Carolina Central 14: Thaddeus Lewis threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another score as the host Blue Devils (2-2) piled up 486 yards on offense to romp past the Eagles (0-4) in the Bull City Gridiron Classic at Durham, N.C.

BIG 12

Kansas State 49, Tennessee Tech 7: Brandon Banks became the 12th player in NCAA history to return two kickoffs — 93 and 92 yards — for touchdowns in a game as the Wildcats (2-2) rolled past the Golden Eagles (1-2) at Manhattan, Kan.

Iowa State 31, Army 10: Alexander Robinson rushed for 127 yards and scored three touchdowns, and Austen Arnaud added 175 yards passing and two TDs as the Cyclones (3-1) routed the Black Knights (2-2) at Ames, Iowa.

Texas A&M 56, UAB 19: Jerrod Johnson tied a school quarterback record with three rushing touchdowns and also threw three TD passes as the Aggies (3-0) gained 544 yards on offense to rout the Blazers (1-3) at College Station, Texas.

Baylor 68, Northwestern State 13: Robert Griffin threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns before halftime then watched after that as the Bears (2-1) beat the Demons (0-4) at Waco, Texas in their highest-scoring game in 67 years.

BIG EAST

Syracuse 41, Maine 24: Delone Carter scored four touchdowns and the Orange (2-2) overcame two onside kicks, two fake punts and a 17-13 halftime deficit to rally past the Black Bears (2-2) at Syracuse, N.Y.

Connecticut 52, Rhode Island 10: Cody Endres threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns and tailback Jordan Todman ran for three TDs as the Huskies (3-1) cruised past the Rams (1-2) at East Hartford, Conn, in the 94th meeting between the New England rivals.

CONFERENCE USA

Tulane 42, McNeese State 32: Andre Anderson rushed for 199 yards and scored on runs of 2, 11, 63 and 2 yards as the host Green Wave (1-2) beat the Cowboys (3-1) at New Orleans.

East Carolina 19, UCF 14: Dwayne Harris scored two touchdowns, including a 3-yard catch midway through the fourth quarter, to help the Pirates (2-2, 1-0) rally past the Knights (2-2, 0-2) at Greenville, N.C.

Marshall 27, Memphis 16: Darius Marshall ran for 203 yards and three touchdowns to help the Thundering Herd (3-1) hold off the Tigers (1-3) in the Conference USA opener for both teams at Memphis, Tenn.

Vanderbilt 36, Rice 17: Warren Norman ran for 119 yards and scored a 58-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to break the game open as the Commodores (2-2) beat the Owls (0-4) in Houston to snap a two-game losing streak.

Tulsa 56, Sam Houston State 3: G.J. Kinne threw for 264 yards and four touchdowns in two quarters, leading the Golden Hurricane to an easy victory over the Bearkats (1-2) at Tulsa.

MOUNTAIN WEST

Air Force 26, San Diego State 14: Reggie Rembert returned a fumble 47 yards for a score, Erik Soderberg kicked four field goals and the Falcons (3-1, 2-0 Mountain West) also intercepted four passes to defeat the Aztecs (1-3, 0-1) at Air Force Academy, Colo.

Utah 30, Louisville 14: Terrance Cain threw for two touchdowns and the Utes (3-1) scored two touchdowns 18 seconds apart in the first quarter to take a 14-0 lead in beating the Cardinals (1-2) at Salt Lake City.

PACIFIC-10

Arizona 37, Oregon State 32: Nick Foles passed for 254 yards and three touchdowns, including a 13-yarder to Terrell Turner with 8:08 left in the third quarter for a 35-25 lead, as the Wildcats (3-1) held off the Beavers (2-2) in the Pac-10 opener for both teams at Corvallis, Ore.

SEC

Tennessee 34, Ohio 23: Jonathan Crompton threw two touchdowns passes, including a 26-yard screen pass to Bryce Brown to give the Volunteers (2-2) a 31-20 lead with 2:38 in the third quarter en route to beating the Bearcats (2-2) at Knoxville, Tenn.

Auburn 54, Ball State 30: Chris Todd passed for 287 yards and tied a school record with five touchdown passes as the Tigers (4-0), who trailed 7-0 early, came back to rout the Cardinals (0-4) at Auburn, Ala.