By TOM COYNE
Associated Press Writer

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - In the end, Notre Dame once again had too much for Navy.

Terrance Howard scored two touchdowns and the Irish pulled away for a 34-16 victory Saturday, extending their NCAA-record winning streak over the winless Midshipmen to 38 games.

After a goal-line stand early in the fourth quarter that forced the Midshipmen (0-9) to settle for a field goal, the Irish (4-5) put away the game with a 44-yard touchdown run by Julius Jones and a 32-yard field goal by Nicholas Setta.

"To be quite honest, we have better players than Navy. There's no question about that," Irish coach Bob Davie said. "But they did a heck of a job. I respect them."

The Irish still must win their final two games at Stanford and at Purdue to remain bowl eligible and avoid their third losing season in five years under Davie.

The victory may have been the last game at Notre Dame Stadium for Davie, who has come under heavy criticism this season. He has a 34-24 record.

Navy had a chance to close to 24-20 early in the fourth quarter, driving to the Irish 2 on a 2-yard run by quarterback Brian Madden. But Madden ran the ball two more times up the middle, losing a yard on his first rush and being tackled for no gain on the second.

"I don't know if we gave ourselves a chance down there. We were pretty conservative," said Madden, who rushed for 70 yards on 22 carries.

"If we could have popped it in there, it might have been a different game," said linebacker Dustin Elliott, who led the Midshipmen with 13 tackles.

The Irish answered quickly with the touchdown run by Jones, who had 117 yards on 24 carries for his fifth career 100-yard game.

"It was good to see Julius Jones break out of there and have a big run," Davie said.

Navy hasn't beaten Notre Dame since Roger Staubach led the Midshipmen to a 35-14 victory in his Heisman Trophy-winning season in 1963.

"When Navy again beats Notre Dame, which will happen, it will be a special situation for all those kids," interim Navy coach Rick Lantz said.

Navy, which now trails the series 65-9-1, had narrowly missed ending its losing streak to the Irish in its last two trips to Notre Dame Stadium.

Two years ago, the Irish got a favorable spot by the officials on a fourth-and-10 late in the game en route to the winning touchdown. Four years ago, Navy's Pat McGrew was knocked out on the Notre Dame 1 as time expired.

"That's the one team I really respect when I play them," Irish cornerback Shane Walton said. "Regardless of the score, they play the same from beginning to end."

The Midshipmen never led Saturday, but through three quarters the Midshipmen had 280 yards total offense to 252 for Notre Dame.

"I thought we were going to get it done for a long, long time and we didn't," Lantz said.

Carlyle Holiday was 6-of-11 passing for 94 yards with one interception. Howard, who has played sparingly since fumbling on the first play in the season opener against Nebraska, rushed for 54 yards on 12 carries. Terrance Howard rushed for 54 yards and two touchdowns.

Madden had a 38-yard TD run, and was 5-of-12 passing for 105 yards with one interception. David Hills kicked three field goals.

Despite three turnovers in the first half, including a 39-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Irish safety Gerome Sapp, Navy trailed only 17-13 at halftime.

"We really felt like we were going to come out in the second half and pull this sucker out," Madden said.