Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 23, 2024 35 GAME PREVIEW: USC ON DECK Opponent On Deck: USC Trojans Date: Nov. 30, 2024 Site (capacity): Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (77,500) Kickoff: TBA All-time series: Notre Dame leads 49-37-5 Last meeting: Notre Dame 48, USC 20 (Oct. 14, 2023 in South Bend) 2024 Record To Date: 5-5 (3-5 Big Ten) USC head coach: Lincoln Riley (third season, 24-13 through Nov. 16) Season summary: USC head coach Lincoln Ri- ley lost 10 times in 65 games at Oklahoma. He's lost 13 times in 36 games so far with the Trojans. Desperate times have called for desperate measures, and Riley has resorted to benching redshirt junior quarterback Miller Moss for red- shirt sophomore Jayden Maiava, who is a trans- fer from UNLV. Moss started the season strong with a 378-yard performance in a 27-20 win over LSU in Las Vegas, but as his team kept taking losses, a 3-interception outing in a 26-21 defeat at Washington was the last straw. Moss is not the root of the problem, as Ri- ley admitted after making the switch. But the Trojans needed something — anything — to change. "You could literally not change one thing that Miller's done and we could be sitting here with a really, really good record right now," Riley said. "This is not a reflection of anything more than we have another good player in the room and we feel like he gives us a good opportunity." Of course, Moss might not have been inter- cepted three times at Washington if he didn't throw 50 passes in a one-score game. He also threw 50 passes in a 29-28 loss at Maryland and 51 in a 27-24 loss at Michigan. The Trojans have a strong run game, led by redshirt senior and Mississippi State transfer run- ning back Woody Marks (174 carries for 1,024 yards and 9 touchdowns). Too often, though, they refuse to use it. 2024 USC SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 1 vs. LSU* W, 27-20 Sept. 7 Utah State W, 48-0 Sept. 21 at Michigan L, 27-24 Sept. 28 Wisconsin W, 38-21 Oct. 5 at Minnesota L, 24-17 Oct. 12 Penn State L, 33-30 (OT) Oct. 19 at Maryland L, 29-28 Oct. 25 Rutgers W, 42-20 Nov. 2 at Washington L, 26-21 Nov. 16 Nebraska W, 28-20 Nov. 23 at UCLA (NBC) 7:30 p.m. Nov. 30 Notre Dame TBA * at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR-X 10 Kyron Hudson 6-1 205 R-Jr. or 2 Duce Robinson 6-6 220 So. WR-H 1 Zachariah Branch 5-10 175 So. 9 Jay Fair 5-10 185 Jr. WR-Y 6 Makai Lemon 5-11 190 So. 44 Josiah Zamora 5-8 180 R-Jr. WR-Z 8 Ja'Kobi Lane 6-4 195 So. or 81 Kyle Ford 6-1 225 R-Sr. LT 72 Elijah Paige 6-7 320 R-Fr. 59 Micah Banuelos 6-2 310 R-Fr. LG 70 Emmanuel Pregnon 6-5 320 R-Sr. 66 Gino Quinones 6-3 302 R-Sr. C 79 Jonah Monheim 6-5 310 R-Sr. 67 Kilian O'Connor 6-1 291 Jr. RG 77 Alani Noa 6-4 335 So. 75 Amos Talalele 6-4 340 R-Fr. RT 76 Mason Murphy 6-5 315 R-Jr. 73 Tobias Raymond 6-7 315 R-Fr. TE 87 Lake McRee 6-4 250 R-Jr. 88 Kade Eldridge 6-4 250 R-Fr. QB 14 Jayden Maiava 6-4 220 R-So. 7 Miller Moss 6-2 205 R-Jr. RB 4 Woody Marks 5-10 208 R-Sr. 0 Quinten Joyner 5-11 216 So. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 34 Braylan Shelby 6-5 265 So. 58 Solomon Tuliaupupu 6-3 247 R-Sr. NT 91 Gavin Meyer 6-3 290 R-Sr. 97 Jide Abasiri 6-5 290 Fr. DT 99 Nate Clifton 6-4 295 R-Sr. 94 Kobe Pepe 6-2 315 R-Sr. or 56 Elijah Hughes 6-3 290 So. RUSH 10 Jamil Muhammad 6-1 260 R-Sr. 98 Devan Thompkins 6-5 285 R-So. MLB 4 Easton Mascarenas-Arnold 6-0 231 Sr. 23 Desman Stephens II 6-3 233 Fr. WLB 13 Mason Cobb 6-0 230 R-Sr. 57 Roman Marchetti 6-2 217 R-So. NB 21 Greedy Vance Jr. 5-11 170 R-Sr. 16 Prophet Brown 5-11 190 R-Jr. CB 14 Jacobe Covington 6-2 200 R-Sr. 19 John Humphrey 6-2 196 R-Sr. S 0 Akili Arnold 6-0 200 R-Sr. 27 Bryson Shaw 6-0 190 R-Sr. S 7 Kamari Ramsey 6-0 204 R-So. 8 Zion Branch 6-2 210 R-So. or 24 Christian Pierce 6-1 195 So. CB 2 Jaylin Smith 5-11 190 Sr. 17 DeCarlos Nicholson 6-3 195 R-Sr. USC TROJANS TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. P 16 Eddie Czaplicki 6-1 207 Sr. 48 Ryon Sayeri 5-11 180 Fr. K 96 Michael Lantz 5-11 190 R-Sr. 46 Denis Lynch 5-8 185 R-Jr. KO 96 Michael Lantz 5-11 190 R-Sr. 46 Denis Lynch 5-8 185 R-Jr. LS 31 Hank Pepper 6-1 215 R-Jr. 47 Devin McDonough 6-1 225 Jr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. H 16 Eddie Czaplicki 6-1 207 Sr. PR 1 Zachariah Branch 5-10 175 So. 6 Makai Lemon 5-11 190 So. KR 1 Zachariah Branch 5-10 175 So. 6 Makai Lemon 5-11 190 So. Special Teams Head coach Lincoln Riley's first season in the Big Ten has been a struggle, with a 3-5 start for the Trojans in conference play. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL