Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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OFFENSE: WILL FULLER This honor could have gone to a number of players, but the star of the night was the junior wide receiver, who dominated USC's standout sophomore cornerback Adoree' Jack- son. Fuller torched Jackson with a post route for a 75-yard touchdown on Notre Dame's first offensive play. Then, with the Irish up 38-31 in the fourth quarter, Fuller again beat Jack- son on a slant-and-go for a 45-yard gain, setting up a field goal to make it 41-31. Fuller had three receptions for 131 yards and also drew back-to-back pass interference penalties — one on Jackson and one on senior Kevon Sey- mour, which set up the game-tying touchdown — in the fourth quarter. DEFENSE: KEIVARAE RUSSELL After getting beat by USC wide re- ceiver JuJu Smith-Schuster for a 37- yard gain on the game's sixth play, the senior cornerback settled down and finished with a career-high 10 tackles. However, he saved his best for the fourth quarter. With Notre Dame leading 38-31, the Trojans went back to Smith-Schuster, but Russell had tight coverage and out-played the receiver for the ball and made the pick. On USC's next possession, Russell stepped in front of a pass intended for Smith-Schus- ter, knocking the ball in the air, where junior safety Max Redfield hauled it in for the interception. SPECIAL TEAMS: CJ SANDERS Notre Dame got strong special teams performances from a number of players, but the freshman return specialist's effort was vital. After get- ting stopped for short gains on his first two kick returns, Sanders started to make his presence felt. The California native returned a punt 25 yards to give the Irish the football in Trojans territory in the sec- ond quarter, setting up a Justin Yoon field goal that put the Irish up 24-10. His next two kickoff returns went for 30 and 33 yards, giving the Irish of- fense good field position. TOP PLAYERS OF THE GAME BY BRYAN DRISKELL In addition to averaging 43.7 yards on his three receptions, junior wide receiver Will Fuller drew a pair of pass interference penalties that set up the game-tying score. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA