Notre Dame did the school’s 1977 national champions proud.
Back in town to commemorate the 40th anniversary of their title that was propelled by the famous 49-19 victory over No. 5 USC in The Green Jersey Game, that group saw the 2017 version ranked No. 13 and now 6-1 trounce the No. 11-ranked Trojans (6-2) by a similar 49-14 margin.
“We made them aware of the history and tradition of it,” said Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly of the significance of the series with archrival USC. “We actually spent a little bit more time on how important this game was. But never did we take away from our preparation and how important that is.”
Now 6-1 and on the cusp of a top-10 ranking and title contention of their own, the mind-set of the Irish has taken on dominance.
“I wrote on my card tonight in my locker room — if we didn't win really big, I would be disappointed,” Kelly said. “And I did that because I would then reevaluate some of the things that maybe we did relative to our preparation.”
“What I was really pleased with was the mental performance of this football team … They were around the sideline, like, ‘Coach, we don't want to come out of the game.’ That was as good as I've seen not just here, not just here, anywhere I've been as it relates to their mental preparation and how they handled themselves in the game.”
For the fourth time this year in only seven games, Notre Dame had two players eclipse 100 yards rushing in a game: junior running back Josh Adams totaled 191 yards on 19 carries and scored three touchdowns, while junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush added 14 carries for 106 yards and two more scores. In the 15 previous seasons from 2002-16, two Irish players rushing for at least 100 yards in the same game occurred only five times.
Wimbush also tossed 26- and 23-yard first quarter touchdown passes to junior Equanimeous St. Brown and sophomore Kevin Stepherson, respectively. Notre Dame out-gained USC 497-336, notably 377 to 76 on the ground.
Three first-half USC turnovers helped set up 21 Notre Dame points that led to building a 28-0 cushion at halftime. The Irish had no turnovers in the game.
FIRST QUARTER: Notre Dame 14, USC 0
Top Moment: On USC’s first play from scrimmage at the Notre Dame 43-yard line, quarterback Sam Darnold bobbled the snap and then was sacked and stripped of the football by junior linebacker Te’von Coney, who also recovered the fumble. Three plays later, Wimbush connected with St. Brown on a 26-yard touchdown at the 12:45 mark.
Top Performer: Stepherson, sidelined the first four games this year for an off-the-field disciplinary matter, and having taken only 23 snaps total in the next two games, snared a 23-yard touchdown on a back shoulder toss that was a difficult catch, and also had runs of 13 and 11 yards off the jet sweep.
On defense, in addition to his strip sack, Coney had four other tackles during the quarter, including a second for lost yardage.
Stats: Notre Dame out-gained USC 141-80 in total offense. The Irish out-rushed the Trojans 92-7.
Items: Wimbush’s only two pass completions (on six attempts) were the two touchdowns. Seven of Notre Dame’s first 11 Irish running plays netted at least 10 yards. USC didn’t pick up its initial first down until 2:16 left, but had driven to Notre Dame’s seven-yard line by the time the quarter ended.
SECOND QUARTER: Notre Dame 28, USC 0
Top Moment: A 33-yard pooch punt by Notre Dame senior Tyler Newsome was fumbled at the nine by USC’s Jack Jones and recovered by Irish senior rover Drue Tranquill. Adams then tallied from three yards on third-and-goal that extended the Irish advantage to 21-0 with 7:43 left.
Top Performer: The Notre Dame defense held the Trojans to 23 yards total offense in the second quarter. USC’s 103 yards total offense in the first half included minus-four yards rushing.
Stats: USC had three first-half turnovers that resulted in 21 Notre Dame points. The Irish had no turnovers and amassed 262 yards total offense, 190 rushing and 72 passing
Items: At the 13:25 mark, USC freshman kicker Chase McGrath missed a 22-yard field goal to keep the score at 14-0.
Irish senior cornerback Nick Watkins intercepted a Darnold pass at 7:02 and returned it 14 yards to the Notre Dame 41. The ensuing 59-yard touchdown drive culminated with Wimbush rushing for a four-yard score on third-and-goal to make it 28-0 with 3:54 remaining.
THIRD QUARTER: Notre Dame 42, USC 14
Top Moment: With 3:07 left, Adams romped for an 84-yard touchdown to put the Irish ahead 42-14.
Top Performer: Adams’ run was the seventh time this year he broke free on a rush of at least 59 yards. No other Irish player in memory has had more than five runs of 50 in a season (Reggie Brooks in 1992).
For USC, Darnold completed nine of 11 passes for 122 yards and two scores in the quarter, and added four carries for 16 yards.
Stats: Through three quarters, Notre Dame’s 55 plays netted 426 yards, highlighted by 341 yards rushing on 38 carries. USC’s 52 plays totaled 285 yards, with 234 coming through the air.
Items: USC opened the second half with a 77-yard touchdown march on 12 plays, capped by Darnold’s five-yard touchdown on third-and-goal to Steven Mitchell Jr. at the 10:00 mark.
Notre Dame answered right back with a 65-yard drive that culminated with a seven-yard Wimbush score. He also had a 24-yard scramble on the drive and completed a 13-yard pass to sophomore Chase Claypool on third-and-10.
USC cut its deficit to 35-14 on a 75-yard drive that saw Darnold find Deontay Burnett for a 16-yard touchdown with 3:26 to go.
FOURTH QUARTER: Notre Dame 49, USC 14
Top Moment: The quarter began with a USC pass failing on fourth-and-seven at the Notre Dame 48. Five plays later, Adams scored on a 14-yard touchdown run to make it 49-14 with 13:17 left.
Top Performer: Sophomore Irish defensive end Khalid Kareem recorded his second sack of the game when he dropped backup quarterback Matt Fink on a third-and-three from the Irish 48 for an eight-yard loss. Coney finished with a game high 11 tackles, two for loss, a sack, a hurry, and the forced fumble and recovery.
Stats: Notre Dame’s 377 yards rushing easily topped its 308.0 average entering the game.
Items: The 35-point difference is the second-highest over USC by the Fighting Irish in the 89-game history of the series, surpassed only by the 51-0 win in 1966 to clinch the national title that season.
“We want to be unique,” Kelly said of looking at what the future holds for the Irish. “Unique means that this is not the crown jewel for us … We want more. We're excited about the win, beating a very good USC team. But our guys want to be unique. So there's more out there for them.”
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