Blue and Gold Illustrated

BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 1, 2025 19 Cal 34-24 and improve to 5-2. The Tro- jans fell to 5-2 after the Irish outclassed them in the trenches. "I love being physical, going out there and trying to run somebody over," Love said. "We pride ourselves on being stronger and dominating our opponent." Love threw a haymaker on his first carry of the game, bursting up the middle for 63 yards. He was untouched for most of it, running through a mas- sive seam created by redshirt junior left guard Billy Schrauth and redshirt sophomore center Joe Otting. Two plays later, he found the end zone. The offensive line cleared lane after lane after lane, to the point where the Irish felt comfortable running the ball on third-and-6 and third-and-7 on the same possession. Late in the game, Love ran for gains of 15 and 16 to set up Carr's score despite everyone in the building knowing who would get the ball. "We weren't going to be able to throw the ball a lot in the second half because of the moisture and the weather, and that's what we want," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. "That's our edge. We've got to play in a physical manner that maybe not every team wants to play." Love was at the peak of his powers, shredding tackling angles and racing past Trojan defenders. Price made his greatest impact as a kickoff returner, taking one back 100 yards in the third quarter for the eventual game-winning touchdown. He bounced off two tacklers and out- ran everybody the rest of the way. "I didn't do the right thing; I kind of went outside the block, but it worked out," Price said. "After I broke the first tackle, I knew I was going to the house." Defensively, the Irish sought to make Southern Cal one-dimensional. They did just that, holding the Trojans to 2.3 yards per carry. The front four con- trolled the line of scrimmage, the line- backers attacked downhill and the safe- ties were constantly involved. Redshirt sophomore safety Adon Shuler led Notre Dame with 10 tackles, including a forced fumble on star wide receiver Makai Lemon that set up the game-sealing drive. The Trojans tried a trick play, handing Lemon the ball on a reverse and giving him the option to throw, but the Irish sniffed it out. In the rain and chaos, Shuler attacked Lemon and knocked the ball free. Soph- omore linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu- Asa recovered. "In the fringe area, they like to do trick plays," Shuler said. "I kind of just read it and my coach put me in a great position to make a play." After Southern Cal cleared the field and Notre Dame finished its alma mater, sophomore defensive end Bryce Young emerged from the group and screamed toward the student section in elation. In return, the students who remained — all of them — erupted. Many had their shirts off, as per tradition, despite the pouring rain. As they gutted out a night of foot- ball weather in South Bend, Notre Dame gutted out a massive victory. FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME 7, SOUTHERN CAL 10 Top Moment: Junior running back Jeremiyah Love provided the offensive answer Notre Dame needed after the Trojans marched down the field to score on the opening drive. Love allowed the Irish to get rolling fast by ripping off a 63-yard run through the left side of Notre Dame's offensive line. It set up an even- tual 12-yard touchdown run by Love. Feature Performer: Love was the workhorse for the offense in the first quarter. He carried 4 times for 76 yards and 1 touchdown. He also caught a 6-yard pass from redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr. Stats: Redshirt sophomore safety Adon Shuler led Notre Dame's defense with 4 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and 1 pass broken up in the first quarter … Notre Dame outgained Southern Cal 139-133 … Notre Dame did most of its damage on the ground with 107 rushing yards … The Trojans attacked mostly through the air with 112 passing yards. Items: Southern Cal won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff … Notre Dame punted twice in USC ND FIRST QUARTER USC McRee 10-yard pass from Maiava (Sayeri kick) 11:09 7 0 Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 3:51 ND Love 12-yard run (Burnette kick) 10:11 7 7 Drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 0:58 USC Sayeri 42-yard field goal 8:04 10 7 Drive: 7 plays, 50 yards, 2:07 SECOND QUARTER ND Price 16-yard run (Burnette kick) 14:36 10 14 Drive: 4 plays, 63 yards, 1:36 USC Sayeri 24-yard field goal 1:42 13 14 Drive: 9 plays, 71 yards, 4:09 THIRD QUARTER ND Pauling 6-yard pass from Carr (Burnette kick) 8:04 13 21 Drive: 13 plays, 75 yards, 6:56 USC Sayeri 43-yard field goal 6:19 16 21 Drive: 5 plays, 39 yards, 1:45 USC Lane 59-yard pass from Maiava (Lane pass) 4:32 24 21 Drive: 3 plays, 71 yards, 0:53 ND Price 100-yard kickoff return (Burnette kick missed) 4:17 24 27 FOURTH QUARTER ND Carr 1-yard run (Burnette kick) 7:16 24 34 Drive: 7 plays, 50 yards, 3:55 USC ND Total First Downs 23 23 Rushing 4 17 Passing 13 6 Penalty 6 0 Rushing Attempts 29 44 Yards Gained Rushing 94 330 Yards Lost Rushing 26 24 Net Yards Rushing 68 306 Net Yards Passing 328 136 Passes Attempted 42 26 Passes Completed 22 16 Had Intercepted 2 1 Percent Completion 52.4% 61.5% Yards Per Attempt 7.8 5.2 Yards Per Completion 14.9 8.5 Total Offensive Plays 71 70 Total Net Yards 396 442 Average Gain Per Play 5.6 6.3 Fumbles: No.-Lost 1-1 0-0 Penalties: No.-Yards 1-5 8-96 Punts: No.-Yards 2-103 4-196 Average Per Punt 51.5 49.0 Average Net Punt 51.5 49.0 Punt Returns: No.-Yards 0-0 0-0 Kickoff Returns: No.-Yards 1-19 2-113 Interception Returns: No.-Yards 1-18 2-15 Fumble Returns: No.-Yards 0-0 0-0 Miscellaneous Yards 0 0 Possession Time 27:02 32:58 Third-Down Conversions 6-14 3-11 Percentage 42.9% 27.3% Fourth-Down Conversions 0-2 1-2 Percentage 0.0% 50.0% Sacks By: No.-Yards 1-9 2-9 NOTRE DAME 34, SOUTHERN CAL 24 Oct. 18, 2025 ✦ Attendance:77,622 Notre Dame Stadium ✦ South Bend 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Southern Cal 10 3 11 0 24 Notre Dame 7 7 13 7 34

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