ROSE BOWL: USC 41, Northwestern 32 : ROSE BOWL NOTEBOOK

Northwestern defensive back Hudhaifa Ismaeli wasn’t going to cheer up after the Wildcats’ loss, no matter what comfort anyone offered.

Asked how he felt, he replied, “The sun has fallen.” Asked how he felt when the Wildcats took a 32-31 lead in the fourth quarter, he replied, “The sun has fallen.”

The assembled reporters wondered if Ismaeli had just uttered a profound statement. Seeing their bewildered expressions, he laughed. “It felt like we had the momentum, but we just didn’t make the plays,” he said.

Ismaeli was also told--erroneously--that he had set a Rose Bowl kickoff return record. That broke his mood, but only for an instant.

“That put a little smile on my face,” he said. “I’d rather have the victory. It slipped through our hands.”

His “record” was actually a personal best of 166 kickoff return yards. The Rose Bowl record is 178 yards by Al Hoisch of UCLA in 1947.

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With Barnett being considered for the UCLA job, much significance was given to what he told his players after the game. Asked what Barnett had said, Ismaeli shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “I was in the bathroom.”

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Northwestern was dubbed a Cinderella team so often, players almost began to believe their season would have a fairy-tale ending.

“It’s hard to believe things didn’t work out our way. It seems like they have all year,” quarterback Steve Schnur said.

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T-shirts with the slogan, “This was no damn miracle” were given to Northwestern players several weeks ago. And despite the team’s loss Monday, Northwestern defensive tackle Matt Rice believes it’s still true.

“I think we have a good chance of getting back here next year,” he said. “We’ve proven it can be done.”

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USC quarterback Brad Otton’s 391 passing yards were a season high against Northwestern. The previous high was 303, by Minnesota. Otton’s 29 completions tied a season-high for a Northwestern opponent. . . . Northwestern’s 475 net yards were a season high, surpassing by seven the total the Wildcats accumulated against Air Force.