USC's Braylan Shelby Addresses Trojans' Response to Notre Dame Loss in Practice

The USC Trojans were beaten by the No. 12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 34-24 in their last outing. USC’s rush defense was a problem in the loss, as Notre Dame star running back Jeremiyah Love ran for a career high 228 yards and a touchdown.

USC defensive end Braylan Shelby addressed how the team is placing a huge emphasis on tackling heading into their bye week.

Braylan Shelby on Tackling During Practice

USC Trojans Braylan Shelby Lincoln Riley Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jeremiyah Love Running Back Defense Bye Week Big Ten — Oct 18, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley calls a play against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

The USC run defense had a forgetful night against the Fighting Irish. How do they intend to correct this? USC sophomore defensive end Braylan Shelby said it’s about getting back to the basics.

“We’re doing a couple things on the field as a whole team, actually. Working on tackling and just the regular techniques of football,” Shelby said.

This goes further than just the defense. Shelby said the whole team including the offense has been working on this.

“The entire team…We’re just doing it on the bag and things like that, but it’s just getting back and being in those positions,” Shelby said. “You never know when you’re going to end up, like on offense, doing something like that. It’s good to have everybody do that and just be better collectively as a team.”

How much emphasis is USC placing on tackling this week? DE Braylan Shelby said the whole team is practicing their tackling. Literally, the whole team.

"It's good to have everybody do that and just be better collectively as a team." pic.twitter.com/4mDE4zJ12C
— Ahmad Akkaoui (@AhmadMAkkaoui) October 23, 2025

Against Notre Dame, Shelby had three total tackles and an interception. For the season, he has 17 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, and the one interception.

Lincoln Riley spoke this week to reporters about what went wrong against Notre Dame's run game.

"Against a good team with two phenomenal running backs, you give them a couple of gimmes on top of it’s just going to be a real challenge in battle the entire game, that’s where the run defense was and those were our biggest struggles throughout the game," Riley said. "It was really assignment based. We didn’t play nearly as in sync as we did the previous week. Physicality, effort, and all that was about the same."

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USC's Remaining Schedule

The Trojans now enter their second bye week of the season with a 5-2 record overall and a 3-1 mark in Big Ten conference play. For USC to make a run at a College Football playoff spot, they will likely need to win out. That is not going to be an easy feat to accomplish.

This is USC’s remaining schedule:

Nov. 1: at Nebraska Cornhuskers

Nov. 7: vs. Northwestern Wildcats

Nov. 15: vs. Iowa Hawkeyes

Nov. 22: at No. 6 Oregon Ducks

Nov. 29: vs. UCLA Bruins

While the game on the road against the No. 6 ranked Oregon Ducks looks to be the most daunting, USC cannot afford to overlook their next game on the road against Nebraska.

Under coach Lincoln Riley, USC has struggled in road games. The last two seasons, they have a combined road record of 2-6. The Cornhuskers also have a record this season of 5-2 so USC will have to be on their “A game” if they want to get out of there with a win.