Brian Kelly is entering his 12th season as Notre Dame coach. He needs only four wins to pass Knute Rockne for the most in program history. Along the way, he has accumulated 39 losses. The worst came during the Irish’s annual meeting with USC in the 2014 regular-season finale.
The Irish entered the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on a three-game losing streak, including their final two contests at Notre Dame Stadium. It didn’t help that the defense was ravaged by injuries. The Trojans didn’t care about any of that as they dominated early and never looked back in a 49-14 win.
USC jumped out to a 35-0 lead late in the second quarter. Malik Zaire, whom Kelly substituted for the struggling Everett Golson, ran for an 11-yard touchdown soon after to keep the goose egg off the Irish’s side of the scoreboard before halftime. Late in the third, Greg Bryant, Notre Dame’s leading rusher for 79 yards on seven carries, had a 1-yard touchdown run. By then, however, the Trojans not only had finished their scoring, but became the first team ever to throw six touchdown passes against the Irish.
Golson turned in his worst performance of the season, completing seven of 18 passes for 75 yards and one interception. He and Zaire particularly had a tough time with Trojans linebacker J.R. Tavai, who recorded three-and-a-half sacks and forced a lost fumble. It’s a miracle that the Irish only turned the ball over twice.
2014 had a happy ending for Notre Dame as a month later, it defeated LSU in the Music City Bowl, 31-28. Still, it had to be hard to forget that poor showing in Los Angeles. Perhaps using that game as motivation, the Irish have won four of the five meetings since. Hey, whatever gets you ready to play.