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For the No. 5 Irish, the 95th Battle for the jeweled shillelagh carried more weight than just securing the trophy from the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans for another year. This season, the Irish needed a win against their West Coast rival to punch their ticket to the first ever 12-team College Football Playoff.
Two massive interceptions late in the fourth quarter propelled Notre Dame to their 50th win over USC and secured the Irish both home field advantage in the first round of the College Football Playoff and the seventh seed in the tournament.
However, the two-touchdown final spread does not properly reflect the overall uncertainty of Notre Dame’s victory throughout nearly the entire game — and season.
Notre Dame spent nearly the entire season in a “must win” mentality following Northern Illinois' massive upset of the Irish in Week 2. Despite this embarrassing loss, Marcus Freeman led Notre Dame to an impressive 10-1 record and a nine game winning streak, yet the first three-quarters of the Irish’s game against USC threatened to end that streak.
In the closing minutes of the first half, sophomore superstar Jeremiyah Love hurdled USC defender Kamari Ramsey in a drive that ended with an Eli Rairdon touchdown to put the Irish up 14-7. In the final 30 seconds of the half, the Trojans tied the game after moving the ball down the field and eventually scoring a touchdown by beating sophomore cornerback Christian Gray.
The Trojans threw the ball nearly 50 times for 360 yards in this game, often targeting a struggling Gray. Despite an uncharacteristic performance in this game, Gray made a game changing play deep in the fourth quarter. When USC’s aggressive passing attack pushed the Irish defense all the way down to their own redzone, USC quarterback Jayden Maiava targeted the matchup against Gray as he had done all game, which proved to be a mistake. Tracking the underthrown ball, Gray made an acrobatic catch and secured the interception on the 1-yard line. He then returned the ball 99 yards for a momentum swinging pick six to put Notre Dame up 42-28.
In the next two minutes, USC failed to score a much needed touchdown despite mounting a quick drive deep into Notre Dame territory. All-American safety Xavier Watts followed Gray’s example, destroying USC's hope of finding the end zone and staging a comeback. Maiava’s pass into the end zone was easily picked off by Watts — who, taking a nearly identical route as Gray, ran 100 yards past the USC sideline to the end zone.
These two plays completely altered the course of the game, securing a victory for the Irish.
After the game, head coach Marcus Freeman was asked about his halftime speech to the team and Gray. Freeman shared that his advice was to get back to a winning mentality, saying to them, “Reload. Reload. Don’t let the last play affect the next play.”
Freeman’s mentality and the team’s ability to rally are deeply emblematic of the entire season. Despite early struggles and doubts, the Irish were able to execute and get the job done.
Finding a way to win a tough rivalry game provided the Notre Dame football team the confidence they could win against talented players and coaching. The Irish built off this energy to fuel their College Football Playoff campaign.