Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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GAME PREVIEW: USC BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 30, 2024 33 BY JACK SOBLE U SC redshirt sophomore quar- terback Jayden Maiava's first start in Los Angeles could not have begun worse. On third-and-11, just more than five minutes into USC's Week 12 game against Nebraska, Maiava threw off his back foot to a receiver who was never open. The ball sailed over his intended target and into the hands of former Tro- jans defensive back Ceyair Wright, who took it the distance for a 7-0 Huskers lead. It looked like more of the same for a 4-5 USC team veering toward another lost season. The Trojans had benched redshirt junior quarterback Miller Moss, after all, in large part for throw- ing too many interceptions. But once Maiava got his bearings under him, the tide began to turn in USC's favor. Down 17-14 in the third quarter, Tro- jans head coach Lincoln Riley schemed sophomore wide receiver Duce Rob- inson open on a crossing route down the left sideline. Maiava, the reigning Mountain West Freshman of the Year with UNLV, hit him in stride for a 48- yard touchdown. Later in the after- noon, with the sun setting on Los An- geles Memorial Coliseum, Maiava stuck the dagger in Nebraska's heart. Taking a zone read near the goal line with less than three minutes to play, Maiava juked a Huskers defender out of his shoes and walked into the end zone. USC won 28-20 in a badly needed vic- tory for Riley and the Trojans. "That was an awesome win," Riley said after the game. "Team was incred- ibly resilient the entire day." USC is no longer a team that needs to score 45 points to win games un- der Riley, with an improved run game and defense. However, the Trojans have been a snakebit team this year. Beating Nebraska by eight points brought their record to 2-5 in one-score games this season. But with the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Maiava now at the helm — along with two years of eligibility remaining in his back pocket — USC might now have someone it can build around for the 2025 season if it can finish 2024 strong. There's no better way for the Tro- jans to do that than beating No. 6 Notre Dame. The Irish are set to take on USC Nov. 30 in Los Angeles, with Maiava potentially in position to spoil Notre Dame's College Football Playoff dreams. "He got on himself on [the intercep- tion] and then certainly on the fumble later in the game, but then he was able to mentally get past it and I thought the guys made some big plays around him," Riley said. "He gave guys opportuni- ties to make plays really throughout the game, so no, I thought he showed some poise." Riley made the decision to switch signal-callers after Moss, who had started every game prior, threw 3 inter- ceptions in a 26-21 loss to Washington Nov. 2 that dropped USC below .500 for the first time this season. In explaining the change, the former Oklahoma head coach in his third year at USC seemed to imply it was more about Maiava needing a shot than Moss' shortcomings. "We felt like it was in the best inter- est of the team to give Jayden a chance here," Riley said. "This is not a reflec- tion of anything more than we have an- other good player in the room and we feel like he gives us a good opportunity, and we felt like this was, when we went back and evaluated, that this was the best thing for the team." The Trojans needed a spark, one that they felt would help the rest of the roster, amid a second straight disap- pointing year. They believed Maiava would give it to them. Perhaps a switch at the most important position would put them over the hump in some of the games they let slip away against middle-of-the-road teams in their new conference. TROJAN HORSE USC is a more dangerous opponent for Notre Dame than meets the eye Facts & Figures NOTRE DAME VS. USC Date: Nov. 30, 2024 Site: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET Television: CBS Radio: Notre Dame IMG affiliates Series facts: Notre Dame leads the all-time series 49-37-5, and the Irish have won five of their last six against the Trojans. Most recently, Notre Dame won 48-20 in South Bend on Oct. 14, 2023. Head coaches: USC — Lincoln Riley (25-13, third season); Notre Dame — Marcus Freeman (29-9, third season). Noting USC: The computers believe the Trojans are much better than their record; they are 16th in FPI at 13.5 and 21st in SP+ at 12.1 through Week 12 … USC has the No. 50 scoring offense in the na- tion at 30.3 points per game and the No. 42 scoring defense at 22.0 … The Trojans were tied for 79th in turnover margin per game, with -0.2 … USC has done well to avoid sacks, with its much-maligned offensive line giving up 11 … Avoiding the big play has kept the Trojans' defense in every game this season, with only 22 passes of 20 or more yards allowed (tied for 10th in the country) … The inability to create negative plays has haunted USC, though, with only 45 tackles for loss (113th nationally). Redshirt sophomore quarterback Jayden Maiava guided USC to a 28-20 win over Nebraska Nov. 16, throwing for 259 yards while accounting for all 4 touchdowns (3 passing, 1 rushing). PHOTO COURTESY USC ATHLETICS