Notre Dame Football: The Sad Reality About USC Rivalry

USC had an incredible run under Pete Carroll, as the Trojans head coach from 2001-2009 sent the program to incredible heights. How he and USC accomplished that together, I'll let you play judge and jury on, but the fact of the matter is, under Carroll, USC accomplished the following:

Seven straight 11-plus win seasons
2003 Associated Press National Championship
2004 BCS Championship
97-19 overall record in nine seasons (.836 winning percentage)
8-1 head-to-head vs. Notre Dame
Three Heisman Trophy winners (Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush)

Also worth noting is how USC attained that talent at the time. Forget the rules that are in place now, Carroll seemed to use his own set of them during his time at USC, a major reason he ran to the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL following the 2009 college football season.

USC's Last 40-Plus Years Besides Pete Carroll's

Pete Carroll owned pretty much all of college football, and Notre Dame was no small part of that during his time at USC. Not only did the Trojans go 8-1 against the Irish during his time, very few of those games were even competitive.

From 1983-2000 though, things were much different. Notre Dame went an absurd 14-3-1 against its biggest rival in the 18 years that preceded Pete Carroll in Troy. Since Carroll's departure, Notre Dame owns an 11-4 edge over the Trojans.

That's a combined 25-7-1 advantage for the Irish, which still tilts one-sided even when you add in Carroll's 8-1 run against Notre Dame (26-15-1).

Notre Dame or not, USC has been nothing special without Pete Carroll in what is approaching the last half-century. In the non-Carroll years since 1983, USC has combined to finish with a top 10 ranking just five times. That's five out of 33 seasons (1983-2000, 2010-2024), and soon to be 34.

Or, put it this way: Once every roughly seven seasons, USC has a top 10 football team if Pete Carroll isn't leading it.

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Takeaway:

USC is a name brand for Notre Dame, but rarely has it meant a huge win for the Fighting Irish. 1988 and 1989 stick out, as does 1995, and you can count a few since 2010, but on a national level, beating USC hasn't meant a ton to anyone since the early 1980s if it didn't come against Carroll.

The history of college football can't be told without quickly getting to both Notre Dame and USC. The history of Notre Dame football can't be told without USC, and vice versa, as both did so much to help the other grow its brand nationally.

USC gets treated like a blueblood because of its rich history, as it should. It has Heisman Trophy winners left and right, loads of national championships, and has put more players in the NFL draft than every school besides Notre Dame.

Over the last 40 or so years, USC has been anything but special and hasn't had any sustained success when it wasn't led by Pete Carroll - again, a guy whose actions landed the Trojans major sanctions. There is a reason he's never gone back to college.

Few rivalries can stack up to Notre Dame and USC, but for the better part of 45 years, USC hasn't offered anything sustained of note, outside of that Carroll era. If this past weekend was indeed the end of Notre Dame-USC then I'll certainly be sad to see the game go.

I mean, not all 6-7 programs like USC can create a buzz like the Trojans annually do when they show up on Notre Dame's schedule.