Picture this: The Huskies as top dog.(The Orange County Register)

PASADENA, Calif. _ The day before Purdue played USC in September of '98, Coach Joe Tiller directed the bus to the Rose Bowl. In front of nobody, the Boilermakers took a team photo.

They were back Monday, in front of everybody, but they weren't permitted on the field.

A purple security force literally sidelined Drew Brees and the greatest third-down show in college football. A shivering nation watched Washington, amid the usual meteorological splendor, as it took the Boilermakers and wore them down to a gin fizz, 34-24.

This gave the Huskies their campaign plank for a national championship. "We've got just as much right to No. 1 as anybody," safety Hakim Akbar said.

"Everybody loves those Florida schools," said running back Rich Alexis, from Coral Springs, Fla. "But we showed we play football the same way."

If nothing else, the 11-1 Huskies again proved they are national champs of the fourth quarter. They won this one, 14-7, and had a season-long edge of 158-75.

The key was a Huskies defense that spoiled four of Purdue's five third-down chances in the second half. Brees and Purdue led Division I-A in that category during the season, converting 57.8 percent. In this game, Purdue was 7 for 15 overall, but Brees spent more than 23 minutes of the second half with his helmet off, watching glumly as Washington's blockers laid their tonnage and temper on the helpless Purdue defenders, and Marques Tuiasosopo ran and passed at his leisure.