- The 2025 edition of Notre Dame vs. USC will be a physical and intense matchup.
- Both teams are in desperate need of a significant win to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.
- A loss could end up being the difference in Notre Dame and USC missing out on a shot at the national championship.
The conditions inside Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 18 will be rather interesting. The turf is expected to be wet with showers and thunderstorms forecasted in South Bend, Indiana.
Also on the field? Blood.
It runs deep in the Notre Dame-Southern California rivalry. Two of college football’s premier brands, disdain for each other is rooted in the fanbase separated by 1,800 miles. One could argue they’re each other’s greatest foe, enough to make the blood boil.
That same blood could be evidence of who emerges victorious in the 2025 battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh.
“This game is going to be about velocity,” said Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman. “Often, you say we got to get bloody, like it’s got to be that type of mindset.
“It’s got to be a physical, bloody game.”
Someone prepare the clean-up crew, because it’s going to get real messy for a game that has more than a prized trophy on the line.
It’s hard to definitively say in today’s game there are College Football Playoff elimination games – especially in non-conference games – but you can’t get any closer to one between the No. 15 Fighting Irish and No. 21 Trojans.
Last season’s national runner-up did itself no favors with an 0-2 start to the season. Meanwhile, Lincoln Riley has been desperately trying to get his reputation as an elite coach back, and it can’t be done when you lose those big games.
Game No. 7 for each team could ultimately decide the rest of the season before Halloween – and being on the wrong end of that is far from the expectations at the two private universities.
In short: expect carnage for a game between teams desperately needing a win.
“It’ll be a good battle,” Riley said. “Two really good football teams going at it, like it should be.”
What’s on the line for Notre Dame
Notre Dame has responded to narrow losses to No. 2 Miami and No. 4 Texas A&M in appropriate fashion, rattling off four consecutive victories by an average margin of 29.8 points.
However, the opponents – Purdue, Arkansas, North Carolina State and Boise State – aren’t the type of wins to generate needed capital with the College Football Playoff committee. A look at the Fighting Irish’s opponents in the second half schedule and Southern California might be the only opportunity.
The Trojans are currently the only ranked team left on Notre Dame’s schedule. Navy, if it stays undefeated, could be when they meet on Nov. 8, but beating the Trojans will impress far more than a win over the Midshipmen.
A loss Saturday by Notre Dame will mean it will has lost its three marquee matchups of the season. Even if they handle business the rest of the way, would a 9-3 Fighting Irish team with no signature win really convince the playoff committee they’re worthy?
What’s on the line for USC
Riley’s struggle to maintain national relevance was well documented coming into a make-or-break season for USC. The flashy, high-scoring offense added some strength to start the season on fire.
But much like Notre Dame, the early wins by the Trojans weren’t the caliber of opponents to convince people of their worth. They needed Riley to win the big games.
In the first opportunity of the season, USC fell just short to Illinois. The doubt crept in once again.
However, the Trojans showed promise in what was a dominant defeat of Michigan in Week 7. USC controlled the game, outmuscled the Wolverines and proved just maybe, those flashy Trojans are just as tough as they are quick.
While it brought back optimism in Los Angeles, the job is far from complete. Riley needs to finish the back half of this crucial two-game stretch just as good.
Leave South Bend with a win for the first time since 2011 and USC positions itself for a run to end the campaign. A second loss of the season doesn’t exactly end the season, but it makes little room for error – especially with trips to Nebraska and No. 9 Oregon in November.
Saturday’s meeting could end up being the last time USC and Notre Dame meet on a football field for some time. Their contract runs out after this season and discussions about extending the series are still ongoing If it is the last time, the game will be one of the most consequential matchups in some time – and one that can absolutely produce the violent, bloody conditions Freeman expects.
Speed and flash will clash with shard-nosed brutality. By the time the clock hits zero, Notre Dame Stadium may look like a crime scene, leaving evidence of a ruthless, epic battle.
By the time the evidence is collected, Notre Dame and USC hope it is the suspect – not the victim – that provided the fatal blow to the other’s playoff hopes.
