No. 10 USC will head to South Bend to take on No. 21 Notre Dame Saturday. The Trojans will put their undefeated record on the line, as they face a Fighting Irish team that has lost two of its last three games. 

USC (6-0, 4-0 Pac-12) barely escaped with a victory in last Saturday’s home matchup against Arizona (3-3, 1-2 Pac-12). It took typical junior quarterback Caleb Williams heroics to lead the Trojans to a three-overtime victory. 

It seems like it’s been a common theme for the Trojans of having nail-biting finishes in the past couple games. Before this Arizona game, the Trojans squeaked by Coach Prime and Colorado (4-2, 1-2 Pac-12) by one score and the week prior to that, USC only beat an injury-filled Arizona State (1-5, 0-3 Pac-12) team by two touchdowns. 

With so many red flags among the game last Saturday, Head Coach Lincoln Riley did highlight the offensive line.

“I thought we were much improved in the run game,” Riley said in a press conference Tuesday. “There were several plays in the game where the [offensive line] was pretty good and the skill  wasn’t very good behind them.”

Williams wasn’t his signature self in victory against the Wildcats. He had his worst game of the season through the air, throwing for a season-low 219 yards and one passing touchdown. However, the reigning Heisman winner still carried the team on his back through his grit and toughness, rushing for three touchdowns, which is tied for his career best.

His only other three-rushing touchdown game came against the same Notre Dame team last season, where he hit his iconic Heisman pose in a career defining game. 

The Trojan defense kept with their recurring theme and struggled again. Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch and company allowed 506 total yards, with the Wildcat offense dominating the box sheet, as they outlasted the Trojans in almost every statistical category. 

“We’re working everyday,” junior safety Jaylin Smith said. “I trust my defense. I trust all my guys on the field. Everybody makes mistakes but it’s how you respond to them, and I think all of my guys have responded very well.”

With the offense struggling, the defense getting embarrassed and the Trojans ending the game with a victory, you would think there would be a lone bright spot in special teams, right? No. With four seconds left in the game, redshirt sophomore kicker Denis Lynch had a chance to win the game and send USC fans home happy, but an errant snap from redshirt senior long snapper Jac Casasante forced the game into overtime. 

Riley expressed some frustration with the public’s perception of the defense, as they put blame on the defense for the special teams’ mistake.

“[The defense] started the entire run that got us back on the same page, but it’s one field goal that we don’t make that the defense has no control over and then all everybody wants to do is look at the final score,” Riley said. “This is a much improved unit, there’s no question about it.”

However, after all of the late night Pac-12 After Dark heroics, the Trojans find themselves lucky to catch the Irish (5-2) on a losing skid. Notre Dame lost to No. 14 Louisville (6-0, 3-0 ACC) last Saturday 33-20. The Fighting Irish struggled on both sides of the ball as graduate student quarterback Sam Hartman threw three interceptions.

Their star junior running back Audric Estime managed only 20 yards on 10 carries. Chosen before the season on the Doak Walker watch list, the award for the nation’s best running back, Estime has proven he belongs there, rushing for 692 yards on the season, good for third in the country. The Trojan defense will look to stop the powerful Estime, as they have struggled on that side of the ball. 

“[Estime] is really good,” Smith said. “He has good pad level. He runs with anger. I think we just got to wrap up and we’ll be fine.”

USC is 89th in the country in rushing defense, allowing 157 rushing yards per game.

The Trojans are 37-50-5 all time against the Fighting Irish. This historic rivalry first started in 1926 with USC falling 13-12. The Trojans stopped a four-game winning streak from Notre Dame last season with a 38-27 win at the Coliseum.

“It’s rivalry week, so there is an added edge to it because it’s rivalry week,” said redshirt senior safety Max Williams. “We play at Notre Dame. We all know how big of a game it is.”

Statement wins are a must for USC, and they don’t really seem to have one. Some might argue Colorado was a statement win going into a rough atmosphere like Boulder, but they are currently a two-loss team that got destroyed by No. 8 Oregon (5-0, 2-0 Pac-12) 42-6. 

In order for USC to be even in contention to play in January, it needs statement wins. At a section in their schedule in which they play five of the best 21 teams in the country, this a perfect opportunity to show to the country what Trojan football is made of.

That opportunity starts this weekend as USC puts their perfect track record on the line and travels to South Bend to take on rival Notre Dame Saturday at 7:30 p.m EST.