Musings from Arledge: Can USC make magic in South Bend?

We could talk about X’s and O’s. We could talk about injury reports. We could talk about each team’s past games. We could talk about man coverage and RPO’s.

Boring!

I want to talk about magic instead. Only twice in my life has a sporting event felt truly magical. Others have come close. The OU Orange Bowl. Magic’s baby sky hook in the Garden. First and goal from the 9 for Rodgers and Lynch in 2004.

But only two felt truly magical: Gibson’s home run off Eck, and the Bush Push.

This is the 20^th anniversary of the greatest USC–Notre Dame game since I’ve been old enough to follow college football. I doubt there will ever be another game like it. USC was on top of the world: back-to-back national titles; a long winning streak; the best and flashiest football program in the country, and it wasn’t close. 

Notre Dame was coming off a series of disappointing seasons, all of them involving 31-point bludgeonings at the hands of the Trojans. (Good times!) But they thought they had finally found the answer: Charlie Weis. (Stop laughing! Don’t ruin the moment.) The Irish had a good team. And they were desperate. The electricity on campus was different. It felt special that day.

We all know what happened in the last minute and a half. The sack; the fade to Jarrett; clearing the field; the famous push. It was, simply put, the best sporting event I have ever attended.

It would be greedy to expect anything like that Saturday. Besides, the set up isn’t the same; the stakes aren’t the same. There are no larger-than-life personalities on the field this week.

But this feels like a pivotal moment for USC football. The Trojans showed last week that they can bounce back from disappointment and beat up one of college football’s biggest brands, a program known for its physicality and toughness. That was a huge first step. This is not Clay Helton’s program.

But to complete the transition from the lengthy post-Pete malaise to championship contender, USC has two more dragons to slay, and they can get both Saturday. USC has to show that it can play a great game against a good team on the road. That’s been a weakness for a very long time. And they need to show that they are ready to square up with Notre Dame and push the Irish around again. 

This is a rivalry of runs. Notre Dame and USC have rotated through multiple, lengthy periods of dominance. The transitions occur when the program that has been down reinvents itself, steps up, and smacks the other in the face. 

USC can lose Saturday in South Bend and not ruin its season. It’s a tough road game against a good team. They can lose that and hold onto the recruiting class and still finish with nine wins. But they cannot make the jump back to their rightful place in the college-football pecking order until they go into that building and beat that team. They just can’t.

USC has a shot. I believe the offensive line can more than hold its own against the Irish. I think the defense can be competitive and get some stops. For the first time in a while, I think USC can match up in the trenches. I certainly like USC’s passing game to get big plays. The Trojans should score points. They have a real chance to win this one.

To do that, they need to keep their poise in a venue where they haven’t shown poise very often in the last 15 years. They need to match the physicality of a team that prides itself on pushing people around and has pushed USC around far too much since Pete Carroll left. They need to avoid the bad penalties. Protect the football. Play sound in the secondary. Tackle.

I don’t expect magic Saturday. I’m just hoping for a gutty, solid performance from our Trojans. But sometimes magic pops up even when you don’t expect it. And if so, I’m ready. Every 20 years sounds about right.