By Chris Duncan
The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE - The Louisville Cardinals had a team meeting on Monday to put to rest, once and for all, last week's bitter loss at Miami.

On Friday night, Stefan LeFors made everyone outside the program forget about it, too.

Louisville quarterback Stefan LeFors throws a pass between his teammate Eric Shelton, right, and South Florida's Devon Davis during the first half. (AP photo)

The senior left-hander completed his first 13 passes, threw for one touchdown and ran for another in No. 15 Louisville's 41-9 victory over South Florida.

He finished 21-of-26 for 242 yards to help the Cardinals (5-1, 3-0 Conference USA) bounce back from the 41-38 loss to the fourth-ranked Hurricanes.

"We knew that one loss was not going to ruin our season," said LeFors, who's completed more than 76 percent of his passes this season. "We were anxious to get out here and play again."

Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said he sensed during Monday's practice that the Cardinals were still dwelling on the loss in the Orange Bowl. Players and coaches talked afterward, and Petrino said the team returned to its old self by Tuesday.

"We talked about a lot of things," Petrino said. "We came back and did a great job preparing for tonight's game."

LeFors and Louisville were sharp from the start on Friday, gliding into South Florida territory on their first three possessions. Senior tight end Adam McCauley caught three passes on Louisville's first scoring march, including his first career TD reception with 5:21 left in the opening quarter.

The Bulls went three-and-out from inside their own 10 and Montrell Jones returned a short punt to the South Florida 26. Three plays later, Michael Bush ran into the corner of the end zone on a sweep for a 14-0 lead.

At that point, the bewildered Bulls were still looking for their initial first down.

"I was very impressed with our players' ability to prepare, play with emotion and take care of business," Petrino said.

LeFors lost his perfect game when J.R. Russell missed on a diving try with 1:03 left in the first half. Art Carmody salvaged the drive with a 34-yard field goal that gave the Cardinals a 27-3 halftime lead.

Russell finished with eight catches for 111 yards, his eighth career 100-yard receiving game.

Louisville, third in the nation in total offense, racked up 517 yards and reached 40 points for the eighth time in 19 games under Petrino, midway through his second year.

The sputtering Bulls (2-4, 1-3) finished with 203 yards and 13 first downs - with most of the production coming too late to matter.

The Bulls gained only 40 yards on 27 plays in the first half. Sophomore quarterback Pat Julmiste misfired on 12 of 13 passes before halftime, with many of his incompletions coming on drops by receivers.

"Our offense obviously didn't move the ball, Pat struggled, and didn't throw it well," said South Florida coach Jim Leavitt. "We've got to play a lot better on offense."

Petrino replaced LeFors with backup Brian Brohm early in the second quarter. It was the fifth time in six games Petrino has made the move, as he continues grooming the freshman for the future.

Brohm went 3-for-7 on two possessions and Carmody finished the second with a 34-yard field goal with 4:55 left in the half.

Andre Hall brought the ensuing kickoff out of the end zone, but only reached the 10.

Travis Lipp bobbled a pass from Julmiste a minute later and Louisville linebacker Robert McCune intercepted it at the Bulls' 16. A clipping call backed up the Cardinals, but a 30-yard pass from LeFors to Broderick Clark set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Eric Shelton.

LeFors had a 13-yard touchdown run and Bush scored from 19 yards in the third quarter, giving the Cardinals their 24th rushing touchdown of the season, best in the nation.