The Chargers take the ball, march down the field courtesy of three Indianapolis penalties and San Diego wins it on a 22-yard Darren Sproles touchdown scamper, 23-17.

And here's the question: if you were the Titans or Steelers, would you be all that eager to play the Chargers now?

A 26-yard Nate Kaeding field goal ties it at 17. Thirty-one seconds left.

When the two teams played here in November, the Chargers tied it with 1:30 to go. That was too much time for Peyton Manning. Adam Vinatieri kicked the winning field goal in that game as time expired.

Not this time. Overtime.

And the Chargers win the toss.

Big play of the game so far: Darren Sproles' fumble at the Indy 2, recovered in the end zone by the Colts.

The Chargers appeared poised to go back in front after the other big play candidate, the one that put the Colts in front, 17-14 -- the play that was a thing of beauty, the 72-yard Peyton Manning to Reggie Wayne touchdown pass on third and 5 from the Indianapolis 28.

On the play, the Colts caught the Chargers, and cornerback Antonio Cromartie, totally flat-footed -- Cromartie literally looking to the sidelines as the Colts went no-huddle on third down, getting the play off quickly after an incomplete second-down pass. The Chargers had been trying to substitute. The Colts quick-snapped. TD.

Cromartie -- who got three picks last year of Manning in one game.

Ron Rivera, the Charger defensive coordinator who was Chicago's DC in the Colts' 29-17 Super Bowl victory two years ago over the Bears, will be seeing that play in his nightmares for a long time to come.

Injury note: LT has not been in the game in the third quarter -- in fact, since about 10 minutes remained in the first half. Sproles, through three: 14 carries for 66 yards.

But for the outrageous punting of San Diego's Mike Scifres, the story of this game might be very different indeed.

A Scifres punt put the Colts at the 2. A Scifres punt punt the Colts at the 7. Both times the Charger defense held and on a short field the San Diego offense found just enough for scores.

How is it again that Scifres isn't in the Pro Bowl? Mystery.

Darren Sproles, who wriggled through for San Diego's second touchdown from the 9 with 42 seconds remaining in the half, appears to have taken over at running back for LT. That had to be expected.

Chad Simpson's fumble on the kickoff after the Sproles TD -- oops, a non-fumble, Simpson ruled down when the ball came loose. A big break for Indianapolis with 33 seconds to go, the ball at their 20. Another break, on the very next play: Eric Weddle coulda, shoulda had an interception on Manning's first-down throw.

A the half: Manning 14 for 21 for 143 yards, Rivers 8 of 12 for 86. Tomlinson has five carries for 25, Sproles seven for 38. On the Indy side, Anthony Gonzalez already has 6 catches for 97 yards; San Diego's Gates 5 for 57.

Curious announcement on the east scoreboard after the Charger score that made it 7-7 earlier in the second quarter: "To my TBell...Happy Anniversary! Neverland awaits! Love forever .. PPan." At an NFL playoff football game? Really?

Charger MVP: punter Mike Scifres, with three long punts, the final play of the quarter pinning the Colts against their goal line.

When your punter has three punts in a quarter, however, that's not a good sign.

And it's not for San Diego. Particularly when Peyton Manning goes 6-for-6 on Indy's second drive and leads the Colts to a 7-0 lead.

After one quarter, the Indy defensive line has the better of the San Diego offensive line.

The Chargers' first series: perhaps so telling, both for San Diego and for Indianapolis.

First play: LT around the right side, gain of 14.

Second play: LT, another run.

Third play: Philip Rivers to Gates.

Got it? No doubt the two Charger offensive standouts are going to play.

Third down: Rivers is sacked by Robert Mathis. Mathis didn't play in last year's playoff game. Neither did two other Indy defensive linemen, Dwight Freeney and Raheem Brock. All three linemen are on the field in this game.

The key storyline before the Chargers and Colts get it on here in the AFC wild-card game in San Diego: the health of two of San Diego's stars, running back LaDainian Tomlinson and tight end Antonio Gates.

Both appeared on the field in their Charger powder-blues. LT didn't cut much but did run. Gates looked as he always looks, just fine.

San Diego coach Norv Turner said both will play.

That's not the question, however.

It's how effectively can they play? And how long? Into the fourth quarter? It's playoff time.

The key is not so much LT as it is Gates. Darren Sproles can spell LT. The Chargers need Gates, however, particularly with the size and height match-up problems he presents for Indy safety Bob Sanders.

I am an expert on bad football.

Notre Dame is bad.

Even from section 11 in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday night, about 60 rows up there in the southwest corner of the old stadium, that much was all too plain: Notre Dame is really bad.

It's not just that USC is really good, with far too many athletes and way too much speed. The outcome of the game -- which I went to for fun, with a 16-year-old junior in high school who's looking at colleges, the two of us guests at a first-rate USC tailgate and the game -- was never in doubt. The only issue, as the game went along, was whether Notre Dame was ever going to get a first down.

That's bad.

And for Notre Dame, that's completely preposterous and wholly unacceptable.

For college football, that's completely unacceptable, too. The college football landscape is better when Notre Dame is better. Like it or not, that's fact.  

We can all like it or not. But it's fact. And that's why anyone who cares about college football should want Notre Dame to excel each and every year.

I'm not saying Notre Dame ought to go 12-0 every year. That would be insufferable. But Notre Dame ought to be a legitimate contender each and every season. There's no excuse.

Disclaimer: No one at NBC, the television network that carries Notre Dame games, is making me write this.

Disclaimer No. 2: I went to Northwestern. As a fan, I have less than zero affection for Notre Dame football. 

My freshman year in Evanston, the very first football game I ever went to at Dyche Stadium, as it was then called, Notre Dame drilled the Wildcats, 48-0. (1992: ND, 42-7. 1994: ND, 42-15. Etc., until 1995, when Northwestern beat Notre Dame en route to the Rose Bowl, the last time the two schools played -- take that, Irish).

During my four years at Northwestern, the Wildcats won three games. Not three wins per year. Three wins overall. Thus my college years served me well in understanding, truly understanding, a lack of physical talent combined with bad schemes plus unimaginative coaching -- all the ingredients on display when watching a bad football team.

All of that was there to be seen Saturday night in the Coliseum. USC won, 38-3. Brutal.

Frankly, I expected better. Last year, I covered the Notre Dame-UCLA game, a 20-6 Irish win, Notre Dame's first victory after an 0-5 start. Notre Dame was bad, UCLA was worse (topic for another day: how is it that UCLA can't recruit a quarterback? I mean, how is that possible?). Obviously, Notre Dame has more wins this season than last. Doesn't matter. Sitting there in the stands Saturday night, I didn't see any significant improvement in this year's Notre Dame team over the squad I saw last year.

Indeed, I saw decline, and that decline can be measured in two particular Saturday night stats:

One is Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen's line: 11 of 22 for 41 yards and two interceptions.

That's bad, especially for a young man who has considerable talent.

The other is the plain fact that Notre Dame couldn't even get a first down until the last play of the third quarter.

That's not just bad, that's awful, and that's inexcusable.

Something's got to change. I think we all know what it is.

The Northwestern fan in me would love to see Charlie Weis stay on.

The college football fan in me says Notre Dame must be better. Like, as soon as possible.

The Colts' long drive that made it 17-10 with just under four minutes to go in the third quarter culminated in a four-down sequence at the San Diego goal line that crackled with drama.

To review:

First and goal, Dominic Rhodes is stopped in the Indianapolis backfield for a loss of 1.

Second and goal, a shovel pass to Rhodes goes nowhere.

Third and goal, and before the play Indianapolis takes a time out -- its second of the half. Rhodes goes off the left side but is stopped short of the goal line. A helmetless Stephen Cooper celebrates.

But wait.

The Colts go for it on fourth down. Indianapolis lines up in an empty backfield. Manning finds Rhodes on the quickest of slants for six.

Can the Chargers answer?

An ominous statistic for San Diego backers: the Chargers this season are 1-6 when trailing after three quarters.

The Chargers appeared to take control with a nine-play, 89-yard drive, going ahead, 10-3 -- only to see the Colts come back and tie it with under a minute to go on a pick play that freed Anthony Gonzalez for a wide-open reception.

Not surprisingly for a tied game, the halftime stats are just about even: 53 rushing yards for Indy, 49 for San Diego; 133 passing yards for Indy, 148 for San Diego.

For the Colts, a loss would be, well, a loss.

For the Chargers, the season hangs in the balance.