Recruiting Comparison: Notre Dame vs USC

A look at how Notre Dame and USC stack up from a recruiting standpoint

Notre Dame and USC have comparable rosters in many ways, with each team holding key advantages. This is true from what we see on film and also when breaking down the recruiting classes.

Looking at how Notre Dame and USC stack up from a recruiting standpoint is one of the more intriguing aspects of this matchup. Let's look at how the Notre Dame Fighting Irish stack up against the USC Trojans from a recruiting rankings standpoint.

Notre Dame Offense vs USC Defense

This is a very intriguing matchup for many reasons, at least from a recruiting rankings standpoint. Notre Dame's starting offense has eight players that were four start recruits and three that were three-stars. USC's starting defense has one five-star, five four-star recruits, four three-star recruits and a two-star recruit.

From a pure recruiting standpoint, Notre Dame holds a huge advantage in the trenches. Notre Dame has three former Top 100 recruits in the starting lineup and four of its starters are former four-star recruits. If Notre Dame plays Billy Schrauth at left guard again in this game it will have a lineup made up entirely of former four-star recruits. USC's defensive line has just two former four-star recruits in the primary rotation, and two of its starters and a key reserve were ranked outside of the Top 1000 coming out of high school.

The secondary matchup vs. the Irish receivers is a close recruiting rankings matchup. USC has the lone five-star recruit in cornerback Domani Jackson, but its secondary also has some lower ranked recruits in the starting lineup (Christian Roland-Wallace) and in the rotation. All of Notre Dame's starting wideouts and rotation wideouts were all former four-star recruits.

When you look at Notre Dame's starting lineup and depth the Irish offense far surpasses what USC has on defense. 

Notre Dame Defense vs USC Offense

USC has four three-star recruits and another that wasn't ranked in its starting lineup. That is somewhat balanced out by the five-star players in quarterback Caleb Williams and a couple of freshmen.

Notre Dame's defense also has four three-star recruits in the starting lineup. Notre Dame's lowest ranked starter on defense is Cam Hart, who ranked No. 635. USC's offense has four starters that ranked outside of the Top 1000 coming out of high school.

The biggest mismatch - from a recruiting standpoint - is the Notre Dame defensive line against the USC offensive line. USC has a three-star recruit and a player that wasn't ranked (Emmanuel Pregnon) in the starting lineup up front. None of USC's starting offensive linemen were Top 100 recruits coming out of high school and only one (Justin Dedich) was ranked inside the Top 250.

Notre Dame's defensive line rotation is made up exclusively of former four-star recruits, and six of them were ranked in the Top 250 coming out of high school..

Interestingly, despite having a pair of three-star recruits in the starting lineup, Notre Dame's secondary actually has higher rankings than the USC pass catchers, at least the starters. Two of USC's starting receivers (Tahj Washington, Dorian Singer) ranked outside of the Top 1000 coming out of high school.

CLASS RANKINGS

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

NOTRE DAME

2023 - 12
2022 - 7
2021 - 9
2020 - 18
2019 - 14

USC

2023 - 8
2022 - 70
2021 - 7
2020 - 63
2019 - 19

Advantage: Even

The advantage for high school recruiting goes to Notre Dame, but USC has landed far more talent from the transfer portal, which evens things out.

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Irish Breakdown Content

2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule

Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2024 Commit Rankings - Offense
2024 Commit Rankings - Defense

2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

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