PROVIDENCE--For a few fleeting moments, Columbia thought life began at 40.

The Lions, losers of their last 40 games, led Brown 16-12 with 1:10 remaining Saturday when Brown quarterback Danny Clark fumbled on the Columbia 11.

Columbia safety Terry Elliot jumped on the ball. An official signaled in Columbia's direction and the Lions jumped up and down on the sideline. The streak was over--or so they thought.

But after a minute-long conference, referee Charley Cloe signaled that Brown had recovered. With 47 seconds left in the game, Clark ran for a nine-yard touchdown on the next play and gave Brown a 19-16 victory, extending Columbia's Division I-record losing streak to 41 games.

"I signaled preliminarily for Columbia," Cloe said. "But I talked to one of the other officials who saw the whole play. It was unfortunate that it was reported incorrectly. Columbia never had the ball. When we got to the bottom of the pile, the Brown player had it."

Elliot said, "I got on top of it. I thought I had control of it. Next thing I knew, the ball was between my legs and someone grabbed it from there."

Elliot said the Columbia players were trying to strip the ball on every play and that when the ball finally came loose, they thought their four-year burden had been lifted.

"We definitely thought we had the ball and the game with it," Elliot said.

Clark, a sophomore starting in place of the injured Mark Donovan, said he recovered the fumble.

"I got hit and the ball bounced back to me," said Clark, who was making his first collegiate start.

Brown Coach John Rosenberg thought that guard George Pfeffer recovered. Columbia Coach Larry McElreavy didn't want to talk about it.

"Those are personal thoughts and I'll keep them to myself," McElreavy said.

Columbia ended its fourth consecutive winless season, breaking North-western's Division I record for consecutive losses in the process.

But even though the record was the same, McElreavy, now in his second year at Columbia, said things were different.

"We've turned the corner. We're playing with intensity, enthusiasm and hardness. They've matured and grown and didn't quit," he said.

Columbia blew a 10-point lead with six minutes remaining.

Columbia's last chance to win ended when Brown's Walt Cataldo intercepted QB Dave Putelo's pass in the closing seconds.