{"id":81298,"date":"2025-10-17T13:00:40","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T17:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=81298"},"modified":"2025-10-17T15:21:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T19:21:53","slug":"is-notre-dame-on-upset-watch-against-usc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/10\/17\/is-notre-dame-on-upset-watch-against-usc\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Notre Dame on Upset Watch Against USC?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Notre Dame has won four straight since starting the season 0-2. The Irish haven’t lost a game since the one-point heartbreaker to Texas A&M<\/a> on September 13th. The defense has improved, the offense is in a rhythm, but to be honest, Notre Dame hasn’t had to play a team on the same level as Miami and Texas A&M in the last four games. The Irish have played solid teams, but this week they go against 20th-ranked USC at home. This long-storied match-up is at 7:30 PM ET on NBC.<\/p>\n

Can Notre Dame Keep Its Win Streak Alive Against USC?<\/h2>\n

The Irish have overcome their 0-2 start by beating Purdue, Arkansas, Boise State, and NC State. All phases of the Notre Dame team have improved since those first two losses. However, the Irish now have to face USC, a match-up that has historically been a rivalry game for the two programs. Both teams need this win. USC needs its big win over a ranked opponent. Notre Dame needs to win to keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive. The Irish have won the last two meetings and lead the overall with a 52-37-5 record. Notre Dame is also 29-13-2 at home against the Trojans. Finally, the Irish are 7-3 in the last 10 match-ups.<\/p>\n

Both teams are without key players due to injury. The Trojans will be without two running backs, Eli Sanders and Waymond Jordan. That wasn’t a problem against Michigan, though. Walk-on King Miller<\/a> will get the start against the Irish in this historic rivalry game. This is something Miller has likely dreamed about since before him, and his twin brother, offensive lineman Kaylon Miller, were recruited as preferred walk-ons at USC. King Miller entered last week’s win against the Wolverines and rushed for 158 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries. He also averaged just under eight yards per carry. The Irish will need to limit Miller’s production early.<\/p>\n

Notre Dame, on the other side, will be without defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio. The senior has 13 tackles this season, combined for a sack, and has played in all six games this season. One of the players replacing Rubio in this contest will likely be former Trojan Elijah Hughes<\/a>. Hughes spent his first two seasons at USC and appeared in 15 total games for the Trojans.<\/p>\n

Next Man Up on the Irish Offense<\/h3>\n

Another story entering this game is the injuries for Notre Dame on offense. This offense has found its rhythm since its slow start in the first two losses of the season. Now the Irish are without starting center Ashton Craig. Head Coach Marcus Freeman will replace Craig with redshirt sophomore Joe Otting<\/a>. Otting entered the game for the Irish against NC State. He appeared in seven games last season and three this year. Until last week, his other two appearances were in the big wins against Purdue and Arkansas.<\/p>\n

In addition to his starting center, starting quarterback CJ Carr<\/a> may be without a few offensive weapons. Freshman wide receiver Micah Gilbert is officially ruled out of this contest. While he hasn’t played too much, he was expected to have an increased role if Jaden Greathouse<\/a> can’t go. Greathouse is listed as questionable and could potentially suit up. Additionally, tight end Cooper Flanagan is also listed as questionable. The tight end has yet to make an appearance this season. It is up in the air when he will be healthy enough to step on the field.<\/p>\n

Keys to a Notre Dame Victory Over USC<\/h3>\n

Notre Dame needs to continue its dominance on defense. The Irish have improved greatly on this side of the ball since the first two games. This unit gave up only 13 points to Arkansas and then just one touchdown in each of the last two contests. Further, Notre Dame’s defense has forced 11 turnovers during its win streak. If the Irish can continue this trend early and win the turnover battle, they will be in a good spot. Offensively, the Irish need to keep the run game going strong. Keeping a balanced offense is key in this rivalry game against USC. These teams have a storied history and know each other well. If Notre Dame can do these two things, the Irish should escape an upset.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Main Image: Michael Clubb\/South Bend Tribune \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Notre Dame has won four straight since starting the season 0-2. The Irish haven’t lost a game since the one-point heartbreaker to Texas A&M on September 13th. The defense has improved, the offense is in a rhythm, but to be honest, Notre Dame hasn’t had to play a team on the same level as Miami […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2195,"featured_media":71924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,10906,11,2,35676,2056,35603],"tags":[33908,35721,35723,35720,33464,35722],"class_list":["post-81298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-cfb","category-independents","category-featured","category-notre-dame-fighting-irish","category-top-25","category-usc-trojans","tag-ashton-craig","tag-eli-sanders","tag-gabriel-rubio","tag-kaylon-miller","tag-micah-gilbert","tag-waymond-jordan"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81298"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81328,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81298\/revisions\/81328"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}