The No. 21-ranked Trojans fell to longtime foe and No. 15 Notre Dame by a score of 34-24 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana, on Saturday, Oct. 18.
It is the second loss of the season for Lincoln Riley’s squad, which now drops to 5-2 overall on the season.
Notre Dame separated itself from USC late in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter. The Trojans’ slide started with Jayden Maiava under-throwing a pass downfield into the hands of Notre Dame cornerback Christian Gray. The interception by Gray came after USC’s special teams unit gave up a 100-yard kickoff return to Jadarian Price.
Then, on the Trojans’ next drive, wide receiver Makai Lemon got the ball knocked out of his hands at the conclusion of a jet sweep play that turned into a flea flicker throwing attempt as the Fighting Irish rushed him to the sidelines. Lemon’s fumble resulted in a 2-yard rushing touchdown from Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr.
Maiava would throw his second interception on USC’s final offensive play of the night as he tried to go downfield on third-and-17 to Walker Lyons, but it instead sailed into the hands of Notre Dame’s Luke Talich.
The Trojans’ defense did a nice job handling Carr on the night, but they had no answers whatsoever for the Fighting Irish’s explosive running game with Jeremiyah Love and Price. Notre Dame finished with 306 rushing yards on the night, with 228 of those coming from Love himself.
So, where will the Trojans fall in the latest top 25 rankings following the defeat? Here’s where they may land:
USC rankings: How far will Trojans drop after Notre Dame loss?
While the loss is certainly not a “bad loss” by any means since it came against a top-15-ranked team and was an out-of-conference loss, USC will certainly see a drop in the top-25 rankings.
The question that is now presented is the type of slide Riley’s squad will experience, largely in part to the very slight difference of USC’s current ranking in the US LBM Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25 poll. The Trojans entered the day ranked No. 21 in the Coaches Poll and No. 20 in the AP poll. That one-spot difference could either keep the Trojans in the top 25 or take them out of it for the second time this season, depending on how voters cast their ballots, of course.
Despite the loss, USC still has multiple paths to the College Football Playoff. The likely path for the Trojans to get into the 12-team CFP field, now with two losses on the season, is to earn the automatic bid by winning the Big Ten Conference.
As things stand right now, the Trojans have two remaining ranked opponents on their schedule, according to the latest AP Top 25 poll, in No. 25 Nebraska and No. 8 Oregon. The Cornhuskers will no longer be a ranked opponent for USC when the two programs meet on Nov. 1, as Nebraska fell to Minnesota on Friday, Oct. 17.
Here’s how the rest of the top 25 fared in Week 8, and how those games might affect the Trojans’ ranking:
Rankings reflective of the latest US LBM Coaches Poll
No. 1 Ohio State: Beat Wisconsin
No. 2 Miami: Lost to Louisville
No. 3 Indiana: Beat Michigan State
No. 4 Texas A&M: Beat Arkansas
No. 5 Ole Miss: Lost to No. 7 Georgia
No. 6 Alabama: Beat No. 11 Tennessee
No. 7 Georgia: Beat No. 5 Ole Miss
No. 8 Texas Tech: Lost to Arizona State
No. 9 Oregon: Beat Rutgers
No. 10 LSU: Lost to No. 18 Vanderbilt
No. 11 Tennessee: Lost to No. 6 Alabama
No. 12 Georgia Tech: Beat Duke
No. 13 Oklahoma: Beat South Carolina
No. 14 BYU: In action vs. No. 22 Utah
No. 15 Notre Dame: Beat No. 21 USC
No. 16 Missouri: In action vs. Auburn
No. 17 Texas: Beat Kentucky
No. 18 Vanderbilt: Beat No. 10 LSU
No. 19 Virginia: Beat Washington State
No. 20 Memphis: Lost to UAB
No. 21 USC: Lost to No. 15 Notre Dame
No. 22 Utah: In action vs. No. 14 BYU
No. 23 South Florida: Beat FAU
No. 24 Cincinnati: Beat Oklahoma State
No. 25 Illinois: BYE
Final projection for USC: No. 24
