It's USC v. Notre Dame, the 82nd game in the greatest cross-sectional rivalry in college football. Here are the basic details. I normally do a whole week of long posts about Notre Dame Week, but this year, I was under the weather and finding less time to blog than ever, so I'm piling most of it into one giant post:
Starting Time: Kickoff is officially scheduled for 5:00 p.m. PST. The actual kickoff time will be 5:12 p.m.
Broadcast: ABC-TV is in the house, with Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge and Shelley Smith.
Records: USC is 7-4. USC's 4-4 conference record is fourth-best in the Pac-10, behind #1 Oregon, #7 Stanford and Oregon State. Notre Dame is 6-5. Among the three independents, Notre Dame's record is second to Navy.
Rankings: Both teams are unranked in any poll. This is just the ninth time both USC and Notre Dame enter the game unranked (USC is 2-6 in those games, winning in 1950 and 1997 and losing in 1940-60-83-85-99-2001). USC is 10-11-1 against unranked Irish teams (wins in 1950-56-62-81-82-97-2003-
04-07-08, the tie in 1994 and losses in 1940-51-59-60-63-83-84-85-86-99-2001).
Odds: There was no line on this game initially, but USC has emerged as a 4½ point favorite.
Streaks: USC has won eight straight against the Irish, their longest streak in the eight decades of this rivalry. The last Notre Dame win came in South Bend in 2001. USC has also won 19 straight non-conference games, which is one game shy of the school record.
Weather: The Trojans do not like inclement weather. Since 1959, the Trojans have insisted on playing the games in South Bend during October. The current forecast for tonight is rain showers early, then clear overnight with a low of 46°F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%. If it rains, we'll tell the children that God is crying because Notre Dame sucks.
Webcams: USC has Tommy Trojan on a webcam. Notre Dame has the golden dome on a webcam, too. Actually, Notre Dame is full of webcams, including the Clark Memorial Fountain, South Quad, North Quad and DeBartolo Quad.
History: The series began in 1926, when Knute Rockne took his team to the West Coast, reportedly because his wife wanted a warm-weather holiday. USC and Notre Dame were already powerhouses. At first, the games alternated between Chicago's Soldier Field and Los Angeles's Memorial Coliseum. Since 1931, Notre Dame has hosted the games in odd-numbered years at Notre Dame Stadium. Last year, USC won at Notre Dame 34-27. In the last game in L.A., USC won 38-3. The largest margin of victory in the rivalry was 51 points, by Notre Dame in a 1966 shutout. USC's largest margin of victory is 38, in 2007 at South Bend. USC and Notre Dame are two of just four FBS teams never to have played a lower division opponent since the current divisional alignments were established. (UCLA and Washington are the others.)
The Prize: The winner of the game keeps the Shillelagh, a club made of Irish wood, for a year. This Shillelagh adds an emerald-studded shamrock for each Notre Dame win, and a ruby-studded Trojan head for each USC win, right next to the engraved score of each game. The original Shillelagh was filled up after the 1989 game and is on display at Notre Dame. This year's game is a battle for the current, second, Shillelagh, which is on display at USC's Heritage Hall.
Head-to-Head Record: No team has beaten USC more times than Notre Dame. No team has beaten Notre Dame more times than USC. Notre Dame leads the all-time series 42-34-5. The series is streaky. USC has won the last 8 games. The Irish won the 3 before that. USC won the 3 before that. Notre Dame won 12 of the 13 before that. Since the 1960s, the series has been almost even. At the Coliseum, USC leads 21-17-4, and in my lifetime, USC leads 23-17-3.
National Titles: USC has won 11 national championships in football: 1928-31-32-39-62-67-72-74-78-2003-2004. Several, including the 2003 title, were split titles. In five other seasons -- 1929, 1933, 1976, 1979 and 2002 -- the Trojans were chosen as the number one team by at least selector, but not one with sufficient prestige to call themselves national champions. Notre Dame also claims 11 national titles, but all 11 were consensus titles.
Heisman Trophies: USC was tied with Notre Dame and Ohio State with seven, but with Reggie Bush forfeiting his, the Trojans are back to six and counting. Aside from Bush, USC's last winner was Matt Leinart in 2004. The Irish last won with Tim Brown in 1987.
Injuries: Both teams have lose their starting quarterbacks to injury. USC is expected to start senior Mitch Mustain. Notre Dame will start freshman Tommy Rees.USC had four starters (QB Matt Barkley, TB Marc Tyler, OT Tyron Smith and LB Chris Galippo) go down with injuries in last week's loss to Oregon State. S Jawanza Starling, CB Torin Harris, CB T.J. Bryant, C Abe Markowitz are also questionable. S Drew McAllister (hip) and DT Christian Tupou (knee) are out.
Bowls: For the first time this century, Notre Dame is bowl eligible and USC is not. The Trojans would likely be headed to the Sun Bowl or Holiday Bowl but for their NCAA probation.
Tickets: This game is not sold out. Ticket resale prices are soft.
Team Stats: Here are the Trojans' team stats for 2010. Here are Notre Dame's.
Team Weekly Releases: USC, Notre Dame
Seniors: This will be the final home game for USC's 19 seniors, none of whom have ever lost to Notre Dame and most of whom have been starters for at least part of their USC careers. One other senior, DT Christian Tupuo, has missed the 2010 season with an injury and is expected to return next season. Two juniors, DT Jurrell Casey and OT Tyron Smith might be playing their last home games as well.
No. Name Pos. Hgt. Wgt. Birthday Cl.(Ath/Ac) Exp. Hometown(HighSchool/JC/College)
2 GABLE, C.J. TB 6-0 205 10/19/87 Sr.*/Sr. 4V Sylmar (Sylmar)
6 SMITH, Malcolm LB 6-1 225 7/5/89 Sr./Sr. 3V Northridge (Taft)
9 AUSBERRY, David WR-TE 6-4 235 9/25/87 Sr.*/Sr. 3V Lemoore (Lemoore)
10 HARFMAN, Jacob P-PK 5-10 195 7/26/89 Sr./Sr. 1V Chino (Ayala/Urbana/Mt. San Antonio JC)
10 HOUSTON, Joe PK 5-7 170 9/4/86 Sr.*/Sr. SQ Redondo Beach (Mira Costa/El Camino JC)
16 MUSTAIN, Mitch QB 6-2 200 2/27/88 Sr.*/Sr. 2V Springdale, AR (Springdale/Arkansas)
17 MORGAN, Michael LB 6-4 220 1/16/88 Sr.*/Sr. 3V Dallas, TX (Skyline)
21 BRADFORD, Allen TB 6-0 235 8/31/88 Sr.*/Sr. 4V San Bernardino (Colton)
24 WRIGHT, Shareece CB 5-11 185 4/8/87 Sr.*/Sr. 4V Colton (Colton)
31 HAVILI, Stanley FB 6-1 225 11/14/87 Sr.*/Sr. 4V Salt Lake City, UT (Cottonwood)
45 CRITTENDEN, Omari CB 6-0 190 4/11/88 Sr.*/Sr. SQ Modesto (Johansen/Modesto JC)
52 GRADY, Tyler DT 6-1 250 1/1/88 Sr.*/Sr. — Beverly Hills (Beverly Hills/Santa Monica JC)
61 O’DOWD, Kristofer C 6-5 300 5/14/88 Sr./Sr. 3V Tucson, AZ (Salpointe Catholic)
68 LEWIS, Butch OG 6-5 295 12/1/87 Sr.*/Sr. 3V Denver, CO (Regis Jesuit)
74 HEBERER, Zack OG 6-5 295 6/9/88 Sr.*/Sr. 3V San Pedro (San Pedro)
83 JOHNSON, Ronald WR 6-0 185 8/3/88 Sr./Sr. 3V Muskegon, MI (Muskegon)
84 CAMERON, Jordan TE 6-5 235 8/7/88 Sr.*/Sr. 2V Newbury Park (NewburyPark/BYU/Ventura JC)
90 SIMMONS, Derek DE-DT 6-4 300 2/16/88 Sr.*/Sr. 3V Suisun (Armijo)
99 SERRANO, Jeff DE-SNP 6-5 225 3/16/88 Sr.*/Sr. — Walnut (Walnut/Mt. San Antonio JC)
Game Promotions: USC’s football seniors will be saluted prior to the game while running through the Heritage Tunnel, comprised of former Trojans. The USC women’s tennis team will be introduced on the field during the game and senior Maria Sanchez will be saluted for her recent National Indoor championship…USC’s 2010 Order of the Torch, a group of premier students who exemplify the Trojan ideals, will be presented during a halftime ceremony.
Coaches: USC's Lane Kiffin and Notre Dame's Brian Kelly are coaching their first games in this rivalry as head coaches. This is the first time since 1941 (Sam Barry, Frank Leahy) that both teams come in with new head coaches.
Memorable Anniversaries: Here are some other games folks will be remembering this year.
- 60 years: 1950 - USC 9 Notre Dame 7. USC won its 300th game against the Irish, who finished 4-4-1.
- 40 years: 1970 - USC 38 Notre Dame 28. Notre Dame came to Los Angeles unbeaten and ranked #2 in the country. USC was 5-4-1 and unranked. In pouring rain, Joe Theismann threw for 526 yards but couldn't lead the Irish to victory.
- 25 years: 1985 - Notre Dame 37 USC 3. Gerry Faust switched to the green jerseys at halftime with the Irish up 24-0.
- 10 years: 2000 - Notre Dame 38 USC 21. Notre Dame earned its first BCS bowl bid with this win at the Coliseum. Irish head coach Bob Davie was rewarded with a contract extension, but was fired a season later.
- 5 years: 2005 - USC 34 Notre Dame 31. USC came in ranked #1 to face Charlie Weis's first Irish team in South Bend. It ended with the famous "Bush Push" touchdown by Matt Leinart, on a QB sneak with no timeouts and three seconds to play.
Blogs and Info Sites For the Trojans:
Blogs and Info Sites For Notre Dame:
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