  The effect of including a Gauss-Bonnet contribution in the bulk action is
investigated within the context of the steep inflationary scenario. When
inflation is driven by an exponential inflaton field, this Gauss-Bonnet term
allows the spectral index of the scalar perturbation spectrum to take values in
the range 0.944 and 0.989, thereby bringing the scenario in closer agreement
with the most recent observations. Once the perturbation spectrum is normalized
to the microwave background temperature anisotropies, the value of the spectral
index is determined by the Gauss-Bonnet coupling parameter and the tension of
the brane and is independent of the logarithmic slope of the potential.
