Five Hard Truths USC Learned in Loss to Notre Dame

The USC Trojans are unranked after losing to No. 12 Notre Dame on Saturday, and while the rivalry loss is certainly a blow to USC's 2025 season, not all is lost for the Trojans and coach Lincoln Riley.

It's now an uphill climb to the College Football Playoff for USC, but the Trojans' elite offense should keep them in all of their remaining games. The run defense struggled against Notre Dame's dynamic running back duo of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. What are some other takeaways from the loss?

USC Trojans takeaways Lincoln Riley Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jayden Maiava Chad Bowden D'Anton Lynn Jeremiyah Love — Oct 18, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman and the defense celebrates a turnover on downs in second half against the Southern California Trojans at Notre Dame Stadium. | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

USC's Passing Offense is Elite

The Trojans brought one of the nation's best offenses into South Bend, Indiana, and came away with 24 points. While the Fighting Irish seemingly got the best of USC, the Trojans were able to move the ball.

USC quarterback Jayden Maiava finished with 328 passing yards with wide receivers Ja'Kobi Lane and Makai Lemon making an impact. Freshman receiver Tanook Hines proved himself as a viable third option when the Fighting Irish took away Maiava's top two targets.

The Trojans struggled to run the ball against Notre Dame, averaging 2.3 yards per carry as a team, but the passing game was able to keep USC in the game despite the inclement weather.

Protect the Football

Turnovers were also costly for USC as Maiava threw two interceptions and Lemon fumbled while looking to pass on a trick play.

Riley was critical of the "stupid" play call in his postgame press conference. He also took accountability for USC's two failed conversion attempts on fourth down.

"We had an option right there to sneak it or to pop it out and we got to make decisions right there at the end. . . . They defended it well," said Riley. "I had the reverse pass and two fourth down calls that weren’t very good calls and didn’t put our guys in very good positions."

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Maiava has thrown an interception in USC's last three games, all against ranked opponents, in what has become somewhat of a concerning trend. In the Trojans' last matchup with Notre Dame in 2024, Maiava finished with three touchdowns and two interceptions returned for touchdowns by the Fighting Irish defense.

Run Defense Needs Work

Notre Dame running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price are two of the best running backs in the country, and USC made them look the part on Saturday. Love finished with 228 yards on 24 carries while Price tacked on 87 yards on 13 carries as well as a game-changing 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

The Fighting Irish averaged 7.0 yards per carry as USC's front seven failed to make consistent stops. The Trojans' defensive line forced a number of negative plays, including tackles for loss from Keeshawn Silver, Jahkeem Stewart, Devan Thompkins, as well as one sack from Kameryn Crawford.

However, it wasn't enough as Love and Price consistently found the second level and gashed USC's defense for multiple explosive runs.

College Football Playoff Hopes are Dim

The Notre Dame loss does not count as a conference loss, and USC is still in the running for the Big Ten Championship Game in 2025. Even then, a two-loss USC team could potentially make the College Football Playoff out of the Big Ten. The Trojans still have to face Nebraska, Iowa, No. 6 Oregon, and UCLA, and they have to remain unscathed.

After the game, Riley was optimistic about USC's future, but the Trojans will face problems should they fail to find some fixes on defense.

"There's more possible right now than we even think," Riley said. "And with the record we have in the Big Ten right now and as strong as the league is right now, the opportunities we have upcoming, we got no time to hold our heads. We got a good team in there, I know that we have a good team in there."

Patience for Lincoln Riley, but How Much?

USC coach Lincoln Riley is in year four in Southern California, and some questions can be raised about the Trojans struggling against Notre Dame and Big Ten competition.

As seen on Saturday, the gap only feels larger between Notre Dame under Marcus Freeman and the Trojans under Riley.

The 2025 season is far from over itself, and Riley has one of the top recruiting classes coming onto campus soon. The Trojans are most likely to give Riley, defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn, and general manager Chad Bowden multiple years to build some continuity.

A number of programs have paid large buyouts to fire their coaches, and USC is far from that boat. It might have taken some time for Riley to get the Trojans pointed in the right direction, but he deserves some time to make national noise at USC.