Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 28, 2023 25 1st Win for Notre Dame against a USC team that was ranked in the top 10 of the As- sociated Press poll at the time of the game in 28 years. The last time the Fighting Irish achieved that was a 38-10 victory over a No. 5-ranked Trojans squad on Oct. 21, 1995. From 2002-22, the Irish lost all eight of their matchups with top-10 USC squads. 3 Interceptions of USC quarterback Caleb Wil- liams by the Notre Dame defense, all in the first half. Williams, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner who entered the game with 22 touchdown passes and just 1 interception, had never thrown 3 picks in a game before the Irish did it to him in this contest. Williams had only thrown 2 interceptions in a game once previous in his career — as a freshman for Oklahoma at Baylor on Nov. 13, 2021. 5 Times since 1996 the Fighting Irish have picked off at least three passes in game mul- tiple times in a season. Notre Dame had 3 intercep- tions at North Carolina State Sept. 9 and 3 versus USC Oct. 14. The Irish also achieved that feat in 2021 (two times), 2008 (three), 2003 (three), 2002 (two) and 1997 (two). 6 Sacks of Williams for -44 yards by Notre Dame, after it had only 2 for -16 yards in last year's 38-27 loss in Los Angeles. As a result, Williams fin- ished -8 yards rushing and no rushing scores. In 2022, he rushed for 35 yards and 3 touchdowns. The 6 sacks were the most for the Irish since they had 6 in their 24-17 win over Cal on Sept. 17, 2022. 20 Career rushing touchdowns for Notre Dame junior running back Audric Estimé after he recorded 2- and 1-yard scores against the Trojans. He is the sixth Irish running back to reach 20 career rushing touchdowns since 1996, join- ing Autry Denson (35), Kyren Williams (26), Julius Jones (26), Darius Walker (23), Josh Adams (20) and Dexter Williams (20). 28 -Point victory for Notre Dame versus No. 10 USC is its most lopsided over a top-10 oppo- nent since the aforementioned 38-10 victory over No. 5 USC on Oct. 21, 1995. It is the worst loss suffered by the Trojans since a 29-point setback (62-33) to UCLA on Nov. 20, 2021, during a 4-8 season, and the worst regular-season loss suffered in Lincoln Riley's head coaching ca- reer. The worst loss was a 63-28 setback for Okla- homa against LSU in the College Football Playoff following the 2019 season. 48 Points scored by Notre Dame against No. 10 USC marks the fourth most by the Irish versus a top-10 opponent in the AP poll era (since 1936), per ESPN Stats & Information. On the flip side, the 20 points tallied by the Tro- jans were their fewest this season. USC entered the contest averaging 51.8 points per game. The 20 points are also the second fewest for the Trojans under Riley, trailing on the 17 points they scored versus Oregon State in 2022. 64 Combined yards on Notre Dame's touch- down drives after William's 3 intercep- tions. The Irish went 12 yards in 3 plays to go up 7-0, 2 yards on 1 play to extend their lead to 17-3 and 50 yards on 5 plays to balloon the lead to 24-3. With senior safety Xavier Watts' 15-yard fumble return touchdown that made it 48-20 in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame finished with 28 points scored off of USC's 5 turnovers. The only Trojans turnover the Irish did not score after was the final fumble forced by Xavier Watts. That was followed by the victory formation. BY THE NUMBERS BY STEVE DOWNEY 99 -Yard kickoff return for a touchdown by sopho- more running back Jadarian Price was the first kickoff return for a touchdown for Notre Dame since Chris Tyree's 96-yarder against Wisconsin on Sept. 25, 2021. In addition, it is the longest for a Fighting Irish player since Julius Jones brought one back 100 yards against Ne- braska on Sept. 9, 2000. Price is tied for the fifth longest kickoff return touchdown in school history along with Allen Rossum (versus Purdue on Sept. 14, 1996). Alfred Bergman ranks first at 105 yards against Loyola Chicago on Oct. 28. 1911, followed by Jones, Clint John- son (at Stanford on Oct. 2, 1993) and Joe Savoldi (versus SMU on Oct. 4, 1930) at 100, and Rossum and Price at 99. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER