NOTRE DAME — Stanford pushed and pushed and pushed within inches of the Notre Dame goal line.

The Cardinal were trailing 20-13 in overtime. Tailback Stepfan Taylor had carried the ball five times in a row for 29 yards in his quest to the end zone and had gotten as far as 4th-and-inches.

With the rain pouring down, the crowd noise at Notre Dame Stadium nearing maximum capacity and Touchdown Jesus watching stoically over the shoulders of the Irish defense, it came down to one last play.

Josh Nunes snapped the ball and handed it off to Taylor, who was immediately wrapped up by Irish cornerback Bennett Jackson. Taylor spun backwards, was hit again by linebacker Carlo Calabrese and was whistled down just short of the goal line.

Zeke Motta and Matthias Farley streaked down the field in glee. Kona Schwenke ran to the sidelines and lifted actor Vince Vaughn off his feet in a celebratory bear hug. Louis Nix headed straight for the euphoric Notre Dame student section.

No. 7 Notre Dame had prevailed 20-13 over No. 17 Stanford (4-2) in overtime and improved to 6-0.

In the wake of back-to-back goal line stands, the Irish defense finished its fourth consecutive game without giving up an offensive touchdown.

“It's a play for every inch,” linebacker Manti Te'o said after the game. “Football is a game of inches, and you're fighting. Our guys had (Taylor) on his legs, holding him up.”

It was perhaps the biggest end-of-the-game goal line play at Notre Dame Stadium since the infamous “Bush Push” in 2005. In fact, sportswriter John Walters quipped on Twitter: “Seven years later, (the) Irish get revenge on the Pac-12 for Bush Push ...”

“I think, you think something is going to happen, you know what I mean,” Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said of the play. “You're going to get a tackle for a loss, the ball is going to come out. I was focused on the calls that were being made defensively.

“We were going to find a way to keep them out of the end zone.”

The early portions of the contest weren't so poetic for the Irish.

Quarterback Everett Golson struggled to get anything going through the air and fumbled the ball three times. Golson was a woeful 6-16 for 16 passing yards at halftime, and Notre Dame's only points were from a 29-yard field goal from kicker Kyle Brindza.

Worse yet, one of Golson's fumbles happened in his own end zone, which Stanford recovered for its only touchdown of the day.

Notre Dame's only consolation heading into the half was that the Irish defense was treating Stanford the same way, intercepting two of Nunes's passes and holding the Cardinal to a field goal for its only offensive score of the half.

Golson continued to lead the Irish on dead-end drives early in the second half, but, after his third fumble of the game, the sophomore quarterback and tailback Cierre Wood came alive as the quarter came to an end.

Golson and Wood led Notre Dame on a 52-yard drive capped by a 24-yard touchdown pass from Golson to tight end Tyler Eifert.

After Stanford responded with another field goal, Notre Dame ate up nearly six minutes of the fourth quarter clock for its own field goal drive to send the game into overtime.

“Everett hit a point where he was down a little bit, his confidence was a bit shaken, and he came back with a great drive and did some really good things,” Kelly said. “I was really proud of the way he overcame a little bit of adversity during the game. He made a big step today. He made some plays; he helped us win this football game.”

Golson went down in the fourth quarter with a head injury, and Tommy Rees stepped in to finish Notre Dame's field goal drive. Rees then completed three straight passes in overtime and found TJ Jones in the end zone for the go-ahead score. It was the third game this season that Rees replaced Golson to lead Notre Dame on a game-winning drive.

“The best way I can describe it is you really don't have time to think,” Rees said of the emotions surrounding the moment. “You have 10 guys on offense and then a 100 guys on the team that are counting on you, let alone the University of Notre Dame and just playing for everyone here. You don't have time to think about that kind of stuff. You just get out there and play.”

After Notre Dame scored, Stanford got its chance to score in overtime.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Golson finished 12-24 for 141 passing yards and one touchdown. Rees went a perfect 4-4 for 43 yards and a touchdown. Wood, Theo Riddick and George Atkison III combined for 27 carries for 133 yards.

Eifert led receivers with four catches for 57 yards and a touchdown, while Jones chipped in four catches for 52 yards and a touchdown.