The No. 15 Notre Dame Fighting Irish held on to win 34-24 against the No. 21 USC Trojans on Saturday night in South Bend. Here are the five stars for Notre Dame.
5 ⭐️ – Jeremiyah Love
We don’t get tired of awarding Love 5- or 4-stars. He’s a big reason why the Irish are as talented on offense as they are, and he’s been a major factor in just about every Notre Dame victory. Tonight he ran for an astounding 228 yards on 24 carries — Playstation numbers — and a touchdown with a 63-yard run.
4 ⭐️ – Jadarian Price
I almost feel bad for Jadarian Price. After all, it’s not often that someone runs for a 100-yard kickoff-return touchdown, one that leads to a huge momentum swing in a close game, and still isn’t the best player on his own team that night. Price did run for 87 yards on 13 carries and had a rushing touchdown, as well, but it was his kickoff return TD that helped swing the game in favor of the Fighting Irish.
3 ⭐️ – Notre Dame’s Defense
It still looks shaky at times, and it still gave up a few bad plays, and there were still some dumb penalties, but the defense also had two key takeaways late and kept USC’s ground game in check. Talented Trojans wide receiver Makai Lemon was also kept from being productive.
2 ⭐️ – Jordan Faison
While his night was quiet overall, Faison had some key catches, finishing with six receptions for 60 yards.
1 ⭐️ – CJ Carr
Carr’s night was rough. Not terrible, but far below his level of play for most of this season. Perhaps it was rivalry nerves, perhaps it was the USC defense, or perhaps it was the rain, but Carr missed easy throws and often threw the ball high. He also tossed a bone-headed interception in the first half.
Carr did seem to settle down a bit in the second half and his rushing touchdown salted the game away. He finished 16-of-26 for just 136 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: These are Notre Dame’s five stars from the victory over USC.
