Notre Dame-USC: By The Numbers
3 Consecutive years Notre Dame has defeated USC, a first since 1999-2001 in head coach Bob Davie’s final three seasons with the Fighting Irish. The 91-game rivalry dates back to 1926.
In 2017 the 49-14 victory was the largest against USC at Notre Dame Stadium, while last year’s 24-17 triumph in the regular season finale clinched a bid to the four-team College Football Playoff.
4 Turnovers committed by 5-1 Notre Dame through the halfway point of the 2019 regular season, with none against the Trojans when ball security especially became paramount. Entering next weekend (Oct. 19), the only Power 5 Conference schools (65 total) with fewer are Oregon State (2) and Utah (3). Alabama also has four.
The school record for the Irish — when including bowl games as well — is 10 by the 1993 team that finished 11-1 and No. 2 in the country.
7-3 Record of head coach Brian Kelly against Notre Dame’s arch rival. His seven victories against the Trojans are the third most by a Notre Dame head coach, behind only Lou Holtz (9-1-1 from 1986-96) and Frank Leahy (8-1-1 from 1941-43 and 1946-53).
11 Tackles recorded by fifth-year senior Buck linebacker Asmar Bilal, eclipsing his previous career high of nine. His 35 tackles during the 5-1 start are third on the team, behind safety Alohi Gilman (38) and roverJeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (37).
17 Straight games USC has not won the turnover battle, according to media outlets that follow the Trojans. The last time was a 1-0 advantage in the 2018 season opener versus UNLV. Neither the Irish nor Trojans committed a turnover in this contest, where just one at an opportune time could have made the difference for USC.
The Trojans entered the game tied for 123rd among 130 teams in turnover margin (minus-1.40), while Notre Dame was No. 2 (plus-2.00).
20 Games in a row where Notre Dame has not allowed more than 30 points in a contest, the second longest current streak in the country, behind Washington’s 21.
22-22 The Fighting Irish remained perfect in the red zone by scoring touchdowns on both of their opportunities once it reached the USC 20-yard line. A remarkable 19 of their 22 scores (.864 percentage) have been touchdowns.
The only other schools that currently own a perfect mark in the red zone are LSU and Iowa — although the Hawkeyes have lost their last two games while totaling only 15 points.
51 Degrees was the official game-time temperature at kickoff, relatively balmy at this time of the year at night on a date (Oct. 12) that tied the earliest meeting ever set in 1963 between Notre Dame and USC in their 91-game series history. Temperatures eventually dropped into the 40s, which qualifies as a “cold weather game” in USC’s record book. The previous one was a 31-27 loss at Utah in 2016 at 45 degrees.
The coldest game in USC’s history was a 40-12 loss at Notre Dame on Nov. 30, 1957, when it was 20 degrees. Tied for second lowest 29-degree games at Notre Dame in 1949 (Nov. 26), 1952 (Nov. 29) and 1959 (Nov. 28), all Fighting Irish wins.
Under new coach John McKay in 1960, the demand was made to move the games at Notre Dame to October, and that began in 1961.
52 Yards on junior Jonathan Doerer’s third quarter field goal that gave the Irish their largest lead at 20-3. That tied him with Justin Yoon (versus Navy in 2015) and David Ruffer (Maryland, 2011) for the third longest in school history. The record is 53 shared by Dave Reeve (Pitt, 1976) and Kyle Brindza (Arizona State, 2013).
176 Yards rushing by senior running back Tony Jones Jr., a career high in his third consecutive game with more than 100 yards on the ground.
The only higher totals we have found by a Fighting Irish back against USC were 227 by Reggie Brooks (1992), 191 by Josh Adams in 2017, 180 by Adams again in 2016 during a loss, 179 by Jim Morse (1954), 178 by Jerome Bettis (1991) and 177 by Lee Becton (1993).
1971 Remains the lone year in eight tries that an unranked USC team defeated a top-10-ranked Fighting Irish unit in Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame is now 7-1 in such contests, with this year’s the most recent since the 31-13 win in 1993.
That USC conquest 48 years ago (28-14) was when the 2-4 Trojans upset No. 6 and 5-0- Notre Dame. It was the start of the Trojans’ 23-game unbeaten streak — until snapped by Notre Dame in 1973 en route to the national title.
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