Notre Dame Football: Are Matt Barkley and Trojans Right? Did Irish Quit vs. USC?

USC quarterback and highly-touted NFL draft prospect Matt Barkley is the latest Trojan to confirm the team's belief that Notre Dame quit at the end of Saturday's game.

So, are they right or is Barkley just pouring more fuel onto an already-heated rivalry?

Here is what the junior signal-caller had to say during a radio interview yesterday (via ESPN):

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"I would agree with that," Barkley said Monday in an interview with Max Kellerman and Marcellus Wiley on 710 ESPN. "I was shocked that they didn't use the timeouts because we got on the field with … about seven minutes left, and I thought they were planning on stopping us and saving their timeouts for the end when they had the ball. …

"It seemed from our sideline and our perspective that they did give up. It seemed uncharacteristic of Notre Dame. I wouldn't have wanted to have been on that sideline."

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Irish quarterback Tommy Rees threw an interception halfway through the fourth quarter. Down by two touchdowns, Notre Dame didn't use its timeouts as it watched Curtis McNeal run the ball 10 straight times to run out the clock.

The important part to remember is that McNeal's first run was for 15 yards and moved the Trojans into scoring range. Irish coach Brian Kelly might have been planning to utilize his timeouts before that run all but sealed his team's fate.

Speaking of Kelly, he knows his team has failed to meet expectations once again and, even though he's been continuously backed by administration, understands continued subpar results will land him on the hot seat. There's no way he's going quit on a game if a comeback is legitimately possible.

Notre Dame's biggest problem all season has been turnovers. The Fighting Irish gave the ball away three more times against USC, and until that problem is fixed, winning games on a consistent basis is going to be difficult.

What Barkley and his teammates don't seem to understand is that saying an opposing team quit is a major accusation. They would have been better off talking about how much better of a program they are or something to that extent.

Being called a quitter is not something competitors take lightly, especially when it's based on seven minutes of a 60-minute game. When the two teams match up again next season, don't think these quotes won't be plastered all over the Notre Dame locker room.

USC has won nine of the last 10 meetings and probably should have let sleeping dogs lie.