Sports

NAVY ENJOYS PERKS AFTER HISTORIC WIN

In the euphoric visitor’s locker room inside Notre Dame Stadium, there still was enough emotion for a few more cheers and a few laughs.

The cheers erupted when Captain Margaret D. Klein, the Commandant of the Midshipmen announced that the Middies would receive an extra overnight stay. And, oh yes, today’s classes were canceled.

All it took was for Navy to snap a 43-game losing streak to the Fighting Irish, which the Middies did on Saturday by scoring a 46-44 victory in triple overtime.

“I had no inkling whatsoever something like that was coming,” Navy coach Paul Johnson told The Post in a telephone interview.

“The brigade used to get the weekend off after a win but that changed,” Johnson said. “I told the team, ‘I guess we can practice twice on Monday.’ A couple of them laughed. I don’t expect to see them today.”

Johnson was trying to go about business as usual yesterday, breaking down film of next week’s opponent, North Texas, but he knows this past weekend’s victory will live in fame.

The 43-game win streak was the longest in Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) and, as Johnson said, it had become quite a monkey on the back of the Navy program.

When the Middies stuffed Notre Dame’s 2-point conversion attempt in the third overtime, the monkey was heaved along with flying helmets, players falling to their knees, and Johnson sprinting across the field with a smile as big as Annapolis, Md., home of the Naval Academy, on his face.

The Middies were greeted by about 1,000 of their mates who banged on the sides of the team buses and exchanged high-fives with their football brethren.

lenn.robbins@nypost.com