Irish Breakdown

USC Trolls Notre Dame After Latest Commitment Chooses Trojans

On the recruiting trail USC is red hot while Notre Dame is not

Nick Shepkowski

Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans wide receiver Kyle Ford (81) carries the ball against Notre Dame Fighting Irish safety Jordan Clark (1) in the second half at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans wide receiver Kyle Ford (81) carries the ball against Notre Dame Fighting Irish safety Jordan Clark (1) in the second half at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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Notre Dame football hasn't had a whole lot go right in recruiting recently and Tuesday brought more bad news. Notre Dame double legacy Trent Mosley, a four-star talent from Rancho Santa Margarita, California announced the decision, choosing the Trojans over Notre Dame and Stanford.

Mosley is rated as the No. 11 wide receiver in the 2026 recruiting class according to 247Sports and is yet another swing and a miss at the position by Notre Dame. This swing and miss stings a bit more as Mosley's father Emmett played for Lou Holtz in the 1990's while his mother Cyndi Mosley (Daws) was the women's soccer national player of the year during her time in South Bend.

USC, who is being led in recruiting efforts by former Notre Dame general manager Chad Bowden, wasted no time trolling the Fighting Irish on social media moments following the announcement.

Former USC star wide receiver Mike Williams voiced a short video on social media praising USC's wide receivers throughout history. The majority of that video is Williams torching the Notre Dame secondary in the 2002 and 2003 contests against Notre Dame.

USC Red-Hot on Recruiting Trail

Early returns of Chad Bowden at USC have been as positive as possible as the Trojans sit with the nation's top-ranked recruiting class for 2026. USC already has 14 commitments in the class with nine of those being ranked four or five-stars by 247Sports.

The product that Lincoln Riley has produced at USC is hardly impressive shy of Caleb Williams winning the 2022 Heisman Trophy, but the vision is clearly being seen by some of the nation's top recruits.

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Thoughts:

Lincoln Riley and Marcus Freeman meet after the 2024 Notre Dame vs. USC game in Los Angele
Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley and Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman shake hands after the game at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

I've got no issue at all with USC trolling Notre Dame with the video. Yes, it's funny that they have to go back to before HD was around to showcase highlights, but they're clearly on a recruiting run right now and they're punching up at a program that has owned the rivalry over the last 14 meetings and is fresh off a national championship appearance.

This is what rivalries are about and when beating you at something isn't a big deal is when there is a problem (see Notre Dame football from 1997 to roughly 2012).

Now if USC is going to troll Notre Dame, it can't be talking a big game and then running away from the nearly century-long rivalry like it sounds like it's tempted to do.

That all said, Notre Dame could quiet a lot of the storm if it could build on that title game appearance on the recruiting front, something we clearly haven't seen yet to date with the 2026 class.

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Nick Shepkowski
NICK SHEPKOWSKI

Managing Editor for Notre Dame On SI. Started covering Chicago sports teams for WSCR the Score, and over the years worked with CBS Radio, Audacy, NBC Sports, and FOX Sports as a contributor before running the Notre Dame wire site for USA TODAY.

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