SAN DIEGO — LaDainian Tomlinson can still run the ball and his San Diego Chargers finally looked like world-beaters.

It might not matter, though, because the Chargers still need a miracle to get to the playoffs.

Tomlinson scored on a 3-yard run against his favorite punching bag and Philip Rivers threw three touchdown passes, including a 59-yarder to Vincent Jackson, to give the Chargers a 34-7 victory against the Oakland Raiders last night.

The Chargers beat their archrivals for the 11th straight time in a series dating to the birth of the AFL in 1960.

The Chargers (5-8) snapped a three-game losing streak and won for just the second time in seven games. Once considered favorites to reach the Super Bowl, they're still in deep trouble, trailing Denver by 2 1/2 games in the AFC West. The Broncos have four to play.

"It was desperately needed but it was one win for us," Tomlinson said. "We don't want to make it more than what it is."

On Sunday, Tomlinson was held to 24 yards, the second-lowest total of his brilliant eight-year career, in a listless 22-16 home loss to Atlanta.

"After the showing last week, I think we wanted to prove to everyone that that wasn't us," said Tomlinson, who's having the worst season of his career. "It's good that it was a short week. We got to show people who we are as a group."

San Diego's Darren Sproles caught two TD passes. His 87-yard touchdown on a punt return in the fourth quarter was called back after rookie Antoine Cason was called for an illegal block in the back.

Oakland (3-10) quarterback JaMarcus Russell was intercepted twice by linebacker Stephen Cooper and also lost a fumble, leading to 17 points for the Chargers. Russell sprained his right ankle after his second pickoff and didn't return. X-rays were negative, and Russell left the locker room on crutches.

LAW AND ORDER

PIERCE, DOCTOR TO TALK

Linebacker Antonio Pierce and the doctor who treated his New York Giants teammate Plaxico Burress after he accidentally shot himself at a Manhattan nightclub will talk to investigators today.

Pierce and Dr. Josyann Abisaab will be accompanied by their lawyers when they meet with the authorities, NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Public Information Paul Browne said. It is unclear when and where they will meet.

The authorities are especially interested in why neither Pierce, who drove Burress to New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, nor Abisaab called police to report the shooting early Saturday. Abisaab has since been suspended for not reporting the gunshot injury, as required by law.

Police are trying to determine whether Pierce tried to cover up the shooting. They say Pierce returned to New Jersey with Burress' gun in the glove compartment of his black Cadillac Escalade, and investigators have impounded the SUV to search it for any blood or gun residue.

SUSPENSIONS

JUDGE TO DECIDE FATE

A federal judge will be asked to decide today whether five suspended NFL players deserve a chance to play this weekend.

At issue is whether the league had a duty to notify its players and their union that a dietary supplement the five took contained a banned ingredient. The NFL Players Association argues in a lawsuit filed yesterday that the NFL knew about the tainted supplement but failed to share that information with players whose careers were on the line.

The union filed the lawsuit to block the suspensions of five of the six players who were benched this week for violating the league's anti-doping policy. The union wants Kevin Williams and Pat Williams of the Minnesota Vikings, and Charles Grant, Deuce McAllister and Will Smith of the New Orleans Saints, to be eligible to play Sunday.

The five players were suspended for four games for testing positive in training camp in July and August for the banned diuretic bumetanide, which can be used as a masking agent for steroids. The drug was in the dietary supplement StarCaps even though the label did not list the diuretic as an ingredient.

Yesterday's lawsuit does not include Houston Texans long snapper Bryan Pittman. David Cornwell, Pittman's lawyer, told the AP that his client isn't included because his circumstances "differ substantially from the men who used StarCaps."

ELSEWHERE

Saints: New Orleans placed Kevin Kaesviharn on injured reserve yesterday, ending the safety's season. Kaesviharn had a neck injury that team officials described as a "stinger," or a pinched nerve, and that he would need a few weeks to recover.