Notre Dame vs USC Trojans: Recruiting Comparison

Notre Dame has eight four-stars, two three-stars, and an unranked player in their starting lineup for Saturday. USC has four four-stars and seven three-star recruits in their projected lineup for Saturday. 

The Irish have seven players who were Top 300 recruits coming out of high school which include running back Jeremiyah Love (No. 77), wide receiver Beaux Collins (No. 97), wide receiver Jaden Greathouse (No. 158), left tackle Anthonie Knapp (No. 265), left guard Billy Schrauth (No. 127), right guard Rocco Spindler (No. 65), and right tackle Aamil Wagner (No. 80).

The Trojans have four former Top 300 recruits coming out of high school: defensive end Braylan Shelby (No. 77), safety Kamari Ramsey (No. 195), cornerback Jacobe Covington (No. 159), and cornerback Jaylin Smith (No. 250). All of them are former four-star recruits as well. The matchup, from a recruiting perspective, between Notre Dame's skilled positions and USC's secondary is the most even on this side of the ball. Love, Collins, Greathouse, Mitchell Evans (No. 322) and reserve running back Jadarian Price (No. 212) who are both four stars compare to the Trojan corners and safeties, with a slight edge falling to the Irish. 

In the trenches, this matchup favors Notre Dame, where four of their five starting offensive lineman are former four-star recruits outside of center Pat Coogan (No. 639) who was a three-star. Outside of Shelby, USC doesn't have another four-star recruit in their front seven with the next closest in rankings being fellow defensive end Sam Greene (No. 468) who is a three-star. 

Notre Dame Defense vs USC Offense

Notre Dame has seven four-star players and four three-star players in their projected starting lineup for Saturday. USC has one five-star player, five four-star players, four three-star players, and one unranked player in their projected starting lineup for Saturday. 

The Irish have five starters and six reserves ranked as former Top 300 recruits highlighted by linebacker Drayk Bowen (No. 103), cornerback Christian Gray (No. 112), defensive end Joshua Burnham (No. 108), defensive end Bryce Young (No. 56), and linebacker Jaylen Sneed (No. 35).

The USC wide receivers pose the biggest matchup to this Notre Dame defense. Between their starters and reserves they have two five-star players, Duce Robinson (No. 23) and Zachariah Branch (No. 4), four four-star players, Ja'Kobi Lane (No. 339), Makai Lemon (No. 37), Kyron Hudson (No. 296), and Kyle Ford (No. 34). If there is one thing that Lincoln Riley and his staff has done well in Los Angeles, it's recruit high caliber wide receivers, something that has been consistent throughout Riley's career. 

Similar to the offensive side of the football, the matchup favors Notre Dame in their front. The Irish have five four-star players and two three-star players in their starting front seven. They will have an additional five four-star players rotating in throughout the game. The Trojans have two four-star players, two three-star players, and one unranked player in their starting offensive line, highlighted by four-star left tackle Elijah Paige (No. 209). 

Looking at this matchup as a whole, Notre Dame has the advantage on offense having more former four-star recruits between their starting lineup and rotational players. USC has only six former four-star players between their starting and reserve players in comparison to Notre Dame's eleven four-star players. Defensively, this matchup is significantly more even, with the Irish having the advantage in the front seven, and USC having the advantage from a wide receiver vs defensive back perspective. 

CLASS RANKINGS

Here are the class rankings of the two programs from the last five seasons. (247 Composite Ranking)

NOTRE DAME

2024 - 9
2023 - 12
2022 - 7
2021 - 9
2020 - 18

USC

2024 - 17
2023 - 8
2022 - 70
2021 - 7
2020 - 59

Advantage: Notre Dame