Will Irish Have Any Luck Against The Trojans?

Charlie Weis has not beaten Southern California and the last two games Notre Dame lost by a combined score of 76-3. A lot of people feel that Weis is best known for almost beating USC in 2005 when the Trojans got by the Irish 34-31 with the famous Bush Push, but the bottom line in College football is you have to beat your rival. Athletic Directors, Boosters and Fans pay strict attention to rivalry games. Ohio State vs. Michigan. Alabama vs. Auburn. Miami vs. Florida State. These are games that coaches must win. Notre Dame has not beaten USC in seven years. This game is a million times more important than Notre Dame’s win over Nevada, Michigan State, Purdue and Washington. At some point in time Weis must beat USC.

In the past Notre Dame has faced more experienced QB’s when they played USC. Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, John David Booty and Mark Sanchez have all taken their turns defeating the Irish. This season Notre Dame gets freshmen Matt Barkley in South Bend. After leading the Trojans on a game winning drive over Ohio State, Barkley should not be intimidated by the atmosphere this Saturday. USC has not hit their stride yet this season. If Notre Dame cannot beat a Trojan team that is still trying to find their way, it will be next to impossible to beat them with Barkley under center for the next two seasons.

The country will find out on Saturday if USC still has more talent on their roster than Notre Dame. The recruiting process has a direct effect on which team is successful in this rivalry. USC gets better recruits than Notre Dame every year, but the Irish have a very big advantage at the QB position. Jimmy Clausen is light years ahead of Matt Barkley at this point in time. This season Clausen has 12 TD’s, 2 INT’s, 1,544 passing yards and he is completing 67.6% of his passes. Notre Dame also has the best player at the WR position in their match-up against Southern California. WR Golden Tate has 33 receptions, for 602 yards, 4 TD’s and Tate is averaging 18.2 YPC. Clausen and Tate must have gigantic performances if they plan on beating the Trojans.

Notre Dame defensive coordinators Corwin Brown and John Tenuta must come up with a scheme that will shut down USC RB Joe McKnight and confuse 1st year QB Matt Barkley. A big reason the Trojans lost to Washington earlier this season was, because the Huskies had the superior QB and their defense was able to give USC fits. Charlie Weis was brought to South Bend, because he was regarded as an offensive genius. Weis should have the superior offensive playbook and he has the best QB. Now all he has to do is beat the Trojans for the first time.