Mark Sanchez threw four touchdown passes — two on short drives after miscues by the Fighting Irish — and No. 13 USC beat the Fighting Irish 38-0 today, the largest margin of victory for the Trojans' in the 79-game history of the stories rivalry.

Notre Dame can still claim the most-lopsided victory in the history of the series, a 51-0 win over the Trojans in 1966.

That's surely little consolation to the Irish and their fans, as Notre Dame trudges through a horrible season.

The Irish also lost 38-0 to Michigan earlier this season. The two 38-point losses are tied for the eighth worst losses in Notre Dame history.

Sanchez threw TD passes of 10, 8, 5 and 48 yards and the Trojans won their sixth straight over the Irish, the longest streak for USC against Notre Dame. The Irish won 11 straight from 1983-93.

USC (6-1), coming off three lackluster games — including a stunning 24-23 loss to Stanford — started slowly, but got rolling when a punt by Notre Dame's Geoff Price struck teammate Munir Prince and USC's Vincent Joseph recovered at the Irish 10. The Trojans scored on the next play on a pass from Sanchez to Fred Davis.

The Irish played as ugly as they looked in their throwback green jerseys and yellow pants, dropping to 1-7 for just the second time, matching the 1960 start.

The loss ensures Notre Dame its 13th losing season since it started playing football in 1887, and its fourth losing season since 1999. It also is the fourth straight home loss, tying a school record.

The game was competitive for a while. The Trojans, who got back many players who had been out with injuries, didn't go ahead 14-0 until Allen Bradford caught an 8-yard TD pass with 3:55 left in the second quarter. The Trojans went ahead 17-0 with 11 seconds left in the half on a 30-yard field goal by David Buehler.

USC quickly turned it into a blowout in the second half after Travis Thomas fumbled on the Notre Dame 13. Sanchez threw a 5-yard scoring pass to Stanley Havili.

Vidal Hazelton scored a 48-yard touchdown, catching the pass from Sanchez at the 30-yard line and breaking three tackles en route to the end zone. Joe McKnight scored on a 51-yard run in the fourth quarter.