“Can’t deny heart and soul”

The USC Trojans fell to the No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 49-35 on Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, falling to 6-6 in the highest-scoring game in the history of the storied rivalry.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Jayden Maiava completed 27 of 48 passes for 360 yards. He accounted for five total touchdowns, three touchdown passes to second-year receiver Ja’Kobi Lane, and two on the ground, but it was the two pick-sixes of Notre Dame cornerback Christian Gray and safety Xavier Watts in the final minutes of regulation time that sealed the Trojans’ fate against their rival.

“We fought today just like we have all year,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said. “We obviously just didn’t play well enough in the second half and we created some chances at the end and tried to stay aggressive and obviously some plays just didn’t go our way… This team gave it their heart and soul.” at stake. Anyone who has watched us play cannot deny that.

Riley was aggressive on the Trojans’ opening possession and decided to go for the ball on fourth down in Notre Dame territory, but sophomore receiver Zacharian Branch was stopped short of the line for the win. The Irish responded with a 13-play drive capped by a 1-yard rushing touchdown from Jeremiyah Love.

USC lost star senior running back Woody Marks to a concussion on its second possession and switched to sophomore running back Quinten Joyner the rest of the way. Joyner ran for 83 yards on 10 carries.

“Woody was our best offensive player this year,” Riley said. “To sit here and say losing him had no impact. It had some impact on it, although I thought we came back and still had some really big plays.”

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams was honored at the end of the first quarter. The former Trojans signalman won the Heisman Trophy in 2022 and had his No. 13 jersey officially retired in front of the USC crowd.

Early in the second quarter, senior cornerback Jacobe Covington forced a fumble, the ball was recovered by senior linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold, and the Trojans were lined up in Notre Dame territory. An impressive one-handed catch by Joyner helped the Trojans get inside the 10-yard line, an area of ​​the field where they struggled last week against the UCLA Bruins, but this time Maiava hit a 1-yard quarterback to tie it Game at 7.

Toward the end of the quarter, Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard engineered a drive that was capped off with a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Eli Raridon with just under a minute left in the first half. Instead of having a conversation to end the half, Maiava came out with a shot. A big 35-yard completion from Maiava to sophomore receiver Makai Lemon and then a pass interference penalty against Lane put the Trojans in the red zone. On the very next play, Maiava threw a strike to Lane for the 12-yard touchdown, tying the game at 14 yards at halftime.

The two schools continued to trade blows to open the second half. Notre Dame quickly marched down the field and running back Jadarian Prince went untouched for a 36-yard touchdown to put the Irish back on top, but USC responded. Maiava started the drive with a big 30-yard completion to sophomore Duce Robinson, and then a pass interference call on 3rd-and-8 kept the drive alive. Maiava capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown, tying the game at 21-21.

Notre Dame found itself in unfamiliar territory after defeating all opponents the past two months, but the No. 5 team in the country was up to the challenge. A 2-yard touchdown pass from Leonard midway through the third quarter and a 23-yard touchdown pass from Leonard to Mitchell Evans gave the Irish two touchdowns early in the fourth quarter.

After some attacks faltered in the second half, Maiava finally got the Trojans offense going again midway through the fourth quarter. Big completions from Lemon and redshirt junior receiver Kyron Hudson got USC inside the five-yard line and then Maiava found Lane for the second time to make the score 35-28.

“This is the best we’ve played offensively all year,” Riley said. “This is a really good defense and we did some really good things against them.”

A crucial stop by the Trojans’ defense gave Maiava and Co. the ball back with just under six minutes left in regulation, and once again the UNLV transfer worked. A great 23-yard run by Joyner took the Trojans to the 21-yard line. Lane showed his passion during a timeout, bringing the USC crowd to its feet as momentum began to shift toward the Cardinal and Gold. But on the next play, Maiava tried to throw a back shoulder to Hudson, but Gray raced down the sideline with a convoy in front of him and took it back 99 yards the other way for a touchdown.

On the very next drive, as Maiava was drifting back, he threw a pass into the end zone that was intercepted by Xavier Watts, and it went the other way for a touchdown, officially sending the Irish to the College Football Playoff.

The loss ends a disappointing 2024 season for the Trojans. USC has regressed in each of the last two seasons under Riley, and questions remain about the program’s future.

USC is waiting to find out where they will play their bowl game on December 8th.