Irish Breakdown

Notre Dame Football: Old Rival to Attend USC Game Next Week

His results against Notre Dame in two tries were polar opposites
Nick Shepkowski|
Oct 14, 2023; South Bend, Indiana, USA; USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams (13) runs the ball in the second quarter against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium.
Oct 14, 2023; South Bend, Indiana, USA; USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams (13) runs the ball in the second quarter against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium. | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame Fighting IrishUSC TrojansChicago Bears

Notre Dame has two road trips remaining as it tries to make its way into the College Football Playoff.

One is this week against an unbeaten Army team in Yankee Stadium while the other is an always challenging trip to the Los Angeles Coliseum to take on USC.

When Notre Dame travels to USC on Thanksgiving weekend, a former Fighting Irish rival will be in attendance to cheer on the Trojans.

Caleb Williams, who won the 2022 Heisman Trophy and was the first pick of the 2024 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears, has been announced to be attending the game by his former football program.

Williams played at USC for two seasons and in two career games against Notre Dame, yielding very mixed results.

His 2022 game against the Fighting Irish was the icing on the cake to him winning the Heisman Trophy. On a night that Notre Dame couldn't stop the run to save its life, Williams ran for 35 yards and three touchdowns while completing 18 of 22 passes for 232 yards and another score in the 38-27 Trojans win.

Caleb Williams is pulled by Notre Dame's Rylie Mills in the 2023 USC loss to the Fighting Irish
Oct 14, 2023; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive lineman Rylie Mills (99) gets a hold of the jersey of USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams (13) in the fourth quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

2023 was a different story for Williams and USC as the unbeaten Trojans made the trip to Notre Dame in mid-October. Williams, who had thrown just one interception on the season coming in, was intercepted three times by Notre Dame as the Irish routed their biggest rival, 48-20.

USC dropped to 6-1 on the year with the loss but quickly spiraled, finishing the regular season just 7-5 despite having the top pick in the next NFL draft playing quarterback for it.

The Chicago Bears are 4-6 with Williams as their starting quarterback this season. Williams has thrown for 2,016 yards on the year while completing 61.8% of his passes. He's also thrown nine touchdown passes, but none of those have come in over a month as his last occurred on October 13 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

With the Bears at 4-6 and USC sitting at 5-5, perhaps the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner is headed to Los Angeles to check out Notre Dame just so he can see a winning football team for a change.

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Nick Shepkowski
NICK SHEPKOWSKI

Managing Editor for Notre Dame On SI. Started covering Chicago sports teams for WSCR the Score, and over the years worked with CBS Radio, Audacy, NBC Sports, and FOX Sports as a contributor before running the Notre Dame wire site for USA TODAY.

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