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Brian Kelly Previews USC

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After last week’s 36-3 demolition of Dino Babers’ ranked Syracuse squad in New York, Kelly and the Irish will look to complete a perfect regular season versus struggling rival USC in Los Angeles.
After last week’s 36-3 demolition of Dino Babers’ ranked Syracuse squad in New York, Kelly and the Irish will look to complete a perfect regular season versus struggling rival USC in Los Angeles. (BGI/Bill Panzica)
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Following last week’s impressive 36-3 win over a ranked Syracuse team in New York, Notre Dame is one game away from finishing a perfect regular season.

Of course, that is not the focus for head coach Brian Kelly and the Irish. Instead, they are simply concerned with continuing to improve as a team.

“We’ll do what we’ve done each and every week,” Kelly stated on Tuesday. “All that sounds really intimidating and imposing, but we’ll focus on what we need to do to prepare our football team.

“As I mentioned at the outset, we have some things we need to work on. That will be our focus this week, what we need to do to be successful this weekend.”

A hated rival — Southern California — stands in the way between Notre Dame and a berth in the College Football Playoff.

The last time the Fighting Irish traveled to Los Angeles for the regular-season finale with an 11-0 record in 2012, they earned a spot in the BCS National Championship game versus Alabama with a 22-13 win over the Trojans.

USC, however, has been trending in the wrong direction this season after accomplishing back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017. Although the Trojans rank just 93rd in total yards per game (377.1) and are tied for 82nd in points per game (26.9), Kelly is aware of the potential dangers that unit could provide his team’s defense.

Freshman signal-caller JT Daniels is leading the charge for the Trojans, and has thrown for 2,312 yards with 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions through 11 games. USC has created some explosive plays in the passing game with junior wide receiver Michael Pittman (33 receptions for 656 yards and six touchdowns), freshman wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown (50 catches for 656 yards and three scores) and redshirt sophomore wide receiver Tyler Vaughns (47 grabs for 554 yards and five touchdowns).

Senior tailback Aca’Cedric Ware (112 rushes for 757 yards and six scores) and sophomore tailback Vavae Malepeai (89 rushes for 480 yards and seven touchdowns) will be head coach Clay Helton’s top two options in the run game.

“When you look at the skill players that they have, Vaughns, Pittman, St. Brown and Jones [there is cause for concern],” Kelly said. “In the backfield, Ware has been really good. JT Daniels, a freshman who has incredible arm talent, very smart quarterback.

“So it's a big-play-potential offense. They can make plays all over the field. They had a great win over Washington State, one of the top teams in the country.”

Defensively, USC has been a little bit better by ranking 56th in total yards allowed per game (379.9) and 69th in points allowed per contest (27.3).

“I have a lot of respect for defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast,” Kelly said. “He knows defense, has been in this business. He knows how to get his guys in good position structurally.

“[Senior] linebacker Cam Smith is a tough, hard-nosed, physical kid. He’s been around a while, battled through injuries, keeps coming back. I have a lot of respect for him. [Senior] cornerback Iman Marshall in the defensive backfield. Highly recruited players that are really good football players.

“Playing there is never easy, so we have to go across the country and play a team that obviously has a lot of potential.”

Kelly was asked if he saw any similarities between his 2016 team that finished 4-8 and faced a top-25 USC team to this current USC team.

“The only similarity that I would see with this team is maybe the 2014 team in terms of injuries on the defensive side of the ball,” Kelly noted. “They’ve been ravaged by injuries defensively. You have a lot of injuries on defense, then a really young quarterback who’s going to be really, really good.

“Those two things … they’ve been in really some close games, haven’t been able to turn them their way.”

With no conference championship game to face the following week and a prime-time slot, many eyes will be on Notre Dame Saturday night to see if one spot in the College Football Playoff essentially becomes locked up.

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