Beaux Collins grew up 10 miles from the USC campus, figuring someday he’d play a big college game in Los Angeles — or at least the state of California — at some point in his college career.
Even if he did eventually pick a school out of high school on the other side of the country.
Saturday, in his last regular-season college football game, the senior wide receiver and Clemson transfer, who starred at national prep power Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco, finally gets to walk into that dream.
“It’s something I’ve been looking forward to,” Collins said of the rivalry matchup between his current team, No. 5 Notre Dame (10-1) and the team he grew up cheering for, USC (6-5)..
“Growing up, I’ve always wanted to play there, and now that it’s actually here I’m just very appreciative of being able to come to a school like this, that goes across the country and things like that, and not just playing in their region. Going to a school like this, it sets us up.”
TV start time for the 95th meeting between the two schools is 3:30 p.m. EST on CBS.
The WSBT Gameday SportsBeat pregame radio show for the ND-USC game is an uber-early 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EST (wsbtradio.com/96.1 FM) to accommodate the WSBT broadcast of the ND men’s basketball game at 1 p.m. between the Irish and Creighton.
Inside ND Sports has you covered after the ND-USC game on our YouTube channel with two postgame shows. First up and live, five minutes after the game's final whistle, it's former Irish offensive lineman Bob Morton and Inside ND Sports' Eric Hansen breaking down the game and taking questions from viewers on Into The eNDzone.
Later, our Postgame Takeaways Show with Tyler James and Hansen, drops late Saturday night for your Sunday morning viewing.
Meanwhile, Collins comes into the USC game as Notre Dame’s leading receiver this season — with 34 catches for 427 yards and two touchdowns, though he’s been quieter in his impact in recent weeks.
The Irish need for him to be loud Saturday to help keep their offense balanced. And that makes him one of the Players to Watch for ND-USC.
“A lot of programs and coaches are going to be complacent and settle — ‘Alright, we’re fine, we’re good’, things like that.’” Collins said. “They [the ND coaches] just keep pushing us, and that eventually turns guys into hungry dogs. Going into a game and being hungry like that — it gives you the most confidence in the world.”
And playing close to home makes it even more electric.
“I don’t even know how to explain it,” he said. “Growing up, I thought I’d always be the one in the red and gold, but it obviously didn’t play out like that.
“I’m on a better team now. It’s going to be crazy, man, just knowing where I was when I was a kid, just watching guys play there. Being able to play there now, it’s amazing.”
It’s our practice at Inside ND Sports to pick four Players to Watch, two for each team. Here are the other three:
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USC running back Woody Marks
Neither Notre Dame nor USC offered Marks a scholarship coming out of high school as a four-star prospect in Atlanta, and when he went by Jo’Quavious Marks. But the 5-foot-10, 208-pound four-year regular at Mississippi State has been a terrific transfer portal pickup for the Trojans.
Even though the Trojans rank an unimpressive 84th nationally in rushing offense, Marks has done his part with 1,100 rushing yards and nine TDs on 192 carries. He’s also USC’s leading receiver with 47 receptions, good for 321 yards.
The Irish would like nothing more than putting recently elevated No. 1 quarterback Jayden Maiava into constant third-and-long situations, and Marks is a big key for the Trojans to keep that from happening.
USC linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold
The Irish were on a collision course to face the 6-foot, 231-pound linebacker last December in the Sun Bowl, but the then-Oregon State star opted out of the game, initially to prepare for the NFL Draft.
He changed his mind, though, and entered the transfer portal in the spring and landed with the Trojans, as did his brother Akili Arnold, a transfer safety from the Beavers’ program.
They are USC’s No. 1 and 4, tacklers, respectively, with Mascarenas-Arnold amassing 88 so far this season to go along with five tackles for loss, three sacks, two interceptions, a pass breakup and a QB hurry.
The Irish offense has been evolving and piling up the points in November and now ranks sixth nationally in scoring. The Trojans need Mascarenas-Arnold to help halt the progress and be disruptive if USC is going to ruin Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff plans.
Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore
In August, Notre Dame junior preseason All-America cornerback Benjamin Morrison predicted freshman Leonard Moore, then a relative unknown, would go on to have a better career at Notre Dame than Morrison.
Then Morrison went down for the season on Oct. 12 with a hip injury in a 49-7 rout of Stanford, and Leonard had to become Morrison — or a reasonable facsimile.
Well, he kind of has. Moore has played 396 snaps, more than Morrison’s 314, and has a better season film grade from Pro Football Focus (78.4) than Morrison’s 69.5. In fact, Morrison’s cumulative score is better than anyone on the nation’s No. 2 scoring defense who has played 100 snaps or more with the exception of reigning All-America safety Xavier Watts (86.3) and grad senior nickel Jordan Clark (83.7).
In raw numbers that translates to 30 tackles, one tackle for loss, two interceptions, three pass breakups, a QB hurry and two forced fumbles.
A perhaps overlooked aspect of Moore’s game is his physicality and precision in run support. According to PFF, he’s ND’s best run defender at any position with a score of 92.4 and he’s the best cornerback in the nation against the run.
Saturday, though, he’ll be tested likely early and often by the waves of wide receiver talent the Trojans can throw at a defense. So far, Moore has held up well in coverage as well, with a slightly better coverage score (71.0) than both fellow starter Christian Gray and Morrison.
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