Notre Dame cornerback Dallas Golden (14) and linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (27) celebrate after getting a stop on fourth down in the second half of a NCAA football game against Southern California at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, in South Bend. MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Notre Dame’s Defense Shines in Statement Win Over USC

Originally posted on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI
By John Kennedy | Last updated Oct 19, 2025 1:26 PM ET

Notre Dame's defense is making an incredible turnaround. Early September feels like a lifetime ago following another stellar performance against the high-powered USC attack.

Notre Dame's defense has been on a wild journey this season. In games one and two, confusion and uncertainty seemed to hold the Irish back in ugly performances that directly led to the 0-2 start. In the Purdue game, there were some struggles early, but Notre Dame did tighten things up quite a bit in the second half.

From this moment on, the Irish defense has been truly impressive. Notre Dame has surrendered 13, 7, 7, and 24 points to a team that averages 45 points per game in its last four outings. The Irish defense is playing winning football now. The reality is, Notre Dame just played and defeated the most dangerous offense left on the schedule. There's no reason to think things won't continue to improve.

Chris Ash winning over Notre Dame fans?

After a very shaky start that saw the Irish allow a whopping 68 points in the first two games of the season, which led to calls for his immediate firing or demotion by many Irish fans, Chris Ash is slowly but surely earning credibility with the Notre Dame fan base.

After some brutally bad games, then some really good performances, but against non-top-end competition, USC was the measuring stick for the rest of the regular season. The Irish passed this test with flying colors. Holding USC to 24 points is a fantastic performance that instills some confidence that Notre Dame can look this strong matched up against top offenses.

MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

What comes next?

What comes next for Notre Dame is a well-earned off week that will allow the team to rest their minds and bodies a bit before the final stretch of the season. After that, the Irish play in five remaining games and will be favored in them all. The two-week stretch of Navy and Pitt is interesting, but the Irish have much more talent than any of these teams, respectively speaking.

Notre Dame has played itself back into CFP contention, and I think, controls its own CFP destiny. I have a hard time believing the CFP committee would leave a 10-2 Notre Dame team riding a 10-game winning streak out of the bracket. I just don't believe it would happen.

The overall goal for Notre Dame this season was to show that this program has CFP staying power and wasn't a one-and-done, not to be taken seriously. The Irish are in position to do just that if they take care of business five more times.

This article first appeared on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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