Notre Dame vs. USC Complete Game Preview
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame football’s rivalry game against USC on Saturday has taken a decidedly different turn in the last five days.
What looked like a prime-time matchup between a pair of one-loss teams now pits a tumultuous USC program against the No. 14 Irish.
On Thursday, the Trojans fell to Washington, 17-12, at home to drop to 3-2. Then on Sunday afternoon, USC athletic director Pat Haden announced head coach Steve Sarkisian will take an indefinite leave of absence, and offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Clay Helton will serve as the interim head coach, per ESPN.com.
“Fortunately or unfortunately, I have been in this situation before and once again very fortunate to have a group of first-class kids that are extremely talented and want to do something special here,” Helton said to reporters. “They still have a lot of things out here that we can obtain. We have a big game versus Notre Dame this week.”
The Irish, meanwhile, handled the option again Saturday against Navy in a 41-24 win to improve to 5-1. And though the Trojans enter Notre Dame Stadium unranked, Irish head coach Brian Kelly, speaking before news of Sarkisian’s leave of absence broke, mentioned the strength of the rivalry and the opponent.
“I think everybody knows the kind of talent USC has, and regardless of what happened against Washington, we know in this rivalry game what kind of performance that they’re going to have against us,” Kelly said.
Date: Saturday, October 17
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Place: Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana
TV: NBC
Radio: IMG College Sports, SiriusXM Channel 129
Spread: Notre Dame by 3, according to Odds Shark
Notre Dame's Keys to Victory
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Adjust to Speed
After Notre Dame faced Georgia Tech’s triple-option attack in September, the Irish then hosted UMass before traveling to Clemson.
When Notre Dame took the field against the Tigers, Clemson quickly rolled out two touchdown drives to grab an early 14-0 lead. Asked afterward to assess the slow start, Kelly said Notre Dame looks at everything in search of an explanation.
“It’s all hindsight, and some of it’s conjecture,” Kelly said. “That was a fast [Clemson] offense, and it took us a while to kind of settle into it. Coming off playing a good team in UMass and an option team, we then saw a very, very fast and athletic Clemson team, and it took us a while to acclimate ourselves, quite frankly.”
This week, the Irish go from facing an option team in Navy to an offense with similarly impressive speed and athleticism in USC. Freshman running back Ronald Jones II, a former Irish recruiting target, has averaged 8.1 yards per carry and piled up 307 total rushing yards. Wideouts JuJu Smith-Schuster (33 receptions for 619 yards and six touchdowns) and Adoree’ Jackson (10 grabs for 196 yards and a score) are top weapons for veteran quarterback Cody Kessler.
Notre Dame was slow to adapt to Clemson’s pace. Will it face the same issue twice?
Solidify the Secondary
Halfway into its regular season, Notre Dame ranks tied for 41st in the country in scoring defense (21.2 points per game) and 34th in total defense (333.7 yards per game), per CFBStats.com.
Asked where Notre Dame can play better in the second half of the season and where the biggest areas of growth are, Kelly said consistency at the back end of the defense is most important.
“It’s kind of difficult, we played two option teams over the last four weeks,” Kelly said. “It makes it hard to continue to evolve defensively. I think that’s probably the area that we want to see continued growth is the back end of our defense.”
Asked last week to grade the play of Notre Dame’s secondary through five games, Irish junior safety Max Redfield gave his unit a C-plus or B-minus. Junior cornerback Cole Luke agreed the group can be better across the board.
Against the Trojans, Notre Dame will have the opportunity to impress. Though he struggled mightily against Washington on Thursday, Kessler has still posted prolific numbers. In five games, the USC quarterback has thrown for 1,453 yards and 15 touchdowns (to just three interceptions) while completing nearly 70 percent of his passes. Last season, Kessler fired 39 touchdowns and only five interceptions to go along with his 70 percent completion rate.
USC's Keys to Victory
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Improve on Third Down
Against Washington on Thursday, USC converted just one of its 13 third-down opportunities while limping to a 12-point showing at home.
Notre Dame, meanwhile, had forced opponents into three-and-outs on 37.14 percent of their drives—the third-highest mark nationally—entering the matchup with the Midshipmen. Through five games, USC ranks 102nd in the country in third-down conversions, per CFBStats.com.
Protect Cody Kessler
Kessler had an uncharacteristic stat line Thursday, completing 16 of 29 passes for 156 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. He was sacked five times.
And adding insult to injury in Southern California on Sunday night, USC announced senior center Max Tuerk is out for the season with a knee injury. Tuerk has logged 38 career starts for the Trojans, landed on the All-Pac-12 first team last season and was Bleacher Report’s Preseason All-American center entering 2015.
Notre Dame Players to Watch
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C.J. Prosise
After another 129 rushing yards and three touchdowns Saturday, Irish senior running back C.J. Prosise now ranks seventh in the country in rushing yards (779) and tied for 11th in rushing touchdowns (nine), per CFBStats.com.
“What I like the most about him is he is in that learning curve and he’s excited about every single day working toward being a better running back,” Kelly said after the win Saturday. “So, here’s a guy that’s a veteran player that is embracing his position as a freshman, really, and learning about his position every single day.”
Prosise has only been slowed against Clemson this season, when the athletic back was limited to 50 rushing yards on 15 attempts (3.3 yards per carry). Kelly stopped short of saying Prosise “struggled” against the Tigers, instead pointing to Clemson’s insistence on loading the box and other circumstances specific to that rainy night at Memorial Stadium.
But how will Prosise—and Notre Dame’s overall rushing game—fare against a Trojans defense that boasts similar high-end talent?
KeiVarae Russell
Halfway into the season, Kelly has been clear that Notre Dame can improve in the secondary.
Senior cornerback KeiVarae Russell returned to the Irish from his yearlong academic absence with high expectations.
“KeiVarae works so hard in practice. We just need to see that translate itself into games,” Kelly said last week. “It hasn’t got there yet. We think maybe the year off has been a bit of a transition for him, but he works so hard in practice. The want-to and the desire is there. We think there’s going to be that breakthrough for [Russell and Luke].”
Russell has the chance to take the next step against USC, with Kessler, Smith-Schuster, Jackson and company presenting intriguing matchups in the passing game.
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USC Players to Watch
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JuJu Smith-Schuster
There’s always (at least) one.
USC lost star wideout Nelson Agholor to the NFL, but the Trojans reload with another high-end playmaker on the perimeter with sophomore JuJu Smith-Schuster ascending to the top role.
The former Notre Dame recruiting target has racked up 619 receiving yards on 33 catches, including six scores. Smith-Schuster torched Stanford for eight receptions, 153 yards and a touchdown in a losing effort and added five catches for 103 yards and two scores the following game against Arizona State.
Su’a Cravens
Trojans junior strong-side outside linebacker Su’a Cravens, who fills a hybrid safety-linebacker role in the USC defense, has started all but one game in his collegiate career.
Cravens has again stuffed the stat sheet for USC this season, tallying 31 total tackles (second on the team), four tackles for loss (first), two sacks (tied for first) and an interception.
Cravens possesses the mix of athletic ability and size to match up with Irish running back C.J. Prosise.
What They're Saying
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“If they’re ranked 10th in the country, then that’s going to affect us a little bit differently than them not being ranked. But I still think, when you talk about beating USC, I think it still carries a lot of weight because people know the talent that they have on that football team.” — Kelly on 3-2 USC
“There’s a special feeling playing USC, and I know that still resonates with our players and coaches. Look, whether it’s a rivalry that goes back with implications to the national championship or not, for us in the short, we got beat up pretty good against them last year. For our football team, we certainly want to show ourselves a lot better than we did last year.” — Kelly on the rivalry with USC
“His pass protection was solid. He moves well. He’s a really good athlete for a big kid. So I would say overall pretty good start.” — Kelly on left guard Alex Bars, who started in place of Quenton Nelson (sprained ankle)
“Quenton should be able to practice on Tuesday, and then we’ll see how that progresses throughout the week in terms of his effectiveness.” — Kelly on Nelson
“He had a sprained elbow and a bone bruise. We’ll fit him for a brace, and he should be fine for practice on Tuesday.” — Kelly on freshman defensive tackle Jerry Tillery
“He’s just a committed player. He wants his last year to be his best year. … He came back for a reason. He came back so this would be his best year and help Notre Dame and help himself, and I think he’s living up to all those things.” — Kelly on senior defensive lineman Sheldon Day
“At the end of the day, we didn’t coach well enough, and we didn’t play well enough to deserve to win the game.” — USC head coach Steve Sarkisian to reporters Thursday night after the loss to Washington
“I think Cody was a little off, but I’d say our team was a little off. That’s what I have to dissect and figure out. … That’s like any sport. There’s games you don’t play your best. Cody will be the first to tell you. You have to find a way to win, and we didn’t do that.” — Sarkisian to reporters Thursday night on quarterback Cody Kessler after the loss to Washington
Prediction
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Anything can happen in a rivalry game, and this is the same USC program that obliterated Notre Dame, 49-14, last November in the regular-season finale.
But Notre Dame is home. USC’s program is in flux. And Notre Dame is much healthier defensively.
The Irish still must prove themselves defensively, especially in the secondary, and Kessler, Smith-Schuster and Jackson, among others, present a stiff challenge.
But Notre Dame’s front seven has been strong for head coach Brian Kelly, and the offense has really only been slowed at Clemson this season.
Look for Notre Dame to take the rivalry game and roll into the bye week at 6-1.
Prediction: Notre Dame 31, USC 24
All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Mike Monaco is the lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco on Twitter.
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