USC Trojans' Lincoln Riley Reacts To Loss to Notre Dame: 'Can't Deny Heart and Soul'

The USC Trojans lost to the No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 49-35 on Saturday in the highest-scoring game in the history of the storied rivalry. The loss drops USC to 6-6 and ends a disappointing 2024 regular season under coach Lincoln Riley.

Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley reacts against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the second half at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The USC Trojans fell to the No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 49-35 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday in the highest-scoring game in the history of the storied rivalry and dropped to 6-6.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Jayden Maiava completed passes 27 of 48 passes for 360 yards. He accounted for five total touchdowns, three touchdown passes to sophomore receiver Ja'Kobi Lane and two on the ground, but it was the two pick-sixes by Notre Dame cornerback Christian Gray and safety Xavier Watts in the final minutes of regulation that sealed the Trojans fate against their rival.

"We battled today just like we have all year," said USC coach Lincoln Riley. "We just didn't play good enough obviously in the second half and gave ourselves some chances right there at the end and tried to stay aggressive and obviously some plays just didn't go our way... This team has put their heart and soul on the line. Anybody that's watched us play can't deny that."

Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley reacts against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the second half at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Riley was aggressive on the Trojans opening possession, deciding to go for it on fourth down in Notre Dame territory, but sophomore receiver Zacharian Branch was stopped short of the line to gain. The Irish responded with a 13-play drive that was capped off by a Jeremiyah Love 1-yard rushing touchdown.

USC would lose star senior running back Woody Marks on the second possession because of a concussion and turned to sophomore running Quinten Joyner the rest of the way. Joyner ran for 83 yards on 10 carries.

"Woody's been our best offensive player this year," Riley said. "To sit here and say losing him didn't affect it. It affected it some, although I thought our backs came in and still had some really big plays."

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams was honored at the end of the first quarter. The former Trojans signal-caller won the Heisman Trophy in 2022 and officially had his No. 13 jersey retired in front of the USC crowd.

To start the second quarter, senior cornerback Jacobe Covington forced a fumble, the ball was recovered by senior linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold and the Trojans were set up in Notre Dame territory. An impressive one-handed catch from Joyner helped the Trojans get inside the 10-yard line, an area of the field they struggled at last week against the UCLA Bruins, but this time Maiava punched it in on a 1-yard quarterback to tie the game at 7.

Late in the quarter, Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard engineered a drive that was capped off with a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Eli Raridon with a little under a minute remaining in the first half. Instead of going conversative to close out the half, Maiava came out firing. A big 35-yard completion from Maiava to sophomore receiver Makai Lemon and then a pass interference penalty against Lane set the Trojans up in the red zone. The very next play Maiava threw a strike to Lane for the 12-yard touchdown to tie the game at 14 heading into halftime.

The two school's continued to trade blows to open up the second half. Notre Dame quickly marched down the field and running back Jadarian Prince went untouched for a 36-yard touchdown to put the Irish back on top, but USC would respond. Maiava started the drive with a big 30-yard completion to sophomore Duce Robinson and then a pass interference call on 3rd-and-8 kept the drive alive. Maiava capped off the drive when took flight for a 1-yard touchdown to tie the game at 21.

Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava (14) throws the ball against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the first half at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Notre Dame found themselves in unfamiliar territory having run through all of their opponents for the last two months, but the No. 5 team in the country rose to the occasion. A 2-yard touchdown by Leonard midway through the third quarter and 23-yard touchdown pass from Leonard to Mitchell Evans put the Irish up two touchdowns heading into the fourth quarter.

After a couple of drives stalled in the second half, Maiava finally got the Trojans offense rolling again midway through the fourth quarter. Big completions to Lemon and redshirt junior receiver Kyron Hudson brought USC inside the five-yard line and then Maiava connected with Lane for the second time to make it a 35-28.

"That's the best we've played offensively all year.," Riley said. "That's a really good defense that we did some pretty good things against."

A key stop by the Trojans defense gave Maiava and Co. the ball back with just under six minutes remaining in regulation and once again the UNLV transfer went to work. A big time 23-yard run by Joyner brough the Trojans all the way down to the 21-yard line. Lane showed his passion during a timeout and got the USC crowd on their feet as the momentum was beginning to shift towards the Cardinal and Gold. But on the next play, Maiava attempted to throw a back shoulder to Hudson but Gray with a convoy in front of him, raced down the sideline and took it back 99 yards the other way for a touchdown.

The very next drive, with Maiava drifting back, he lofted a pass to the end zone that was picked off Xavier Watts and he went coach and coast to the other way for the touchdown and officially sent the Irish to the College Football Playoff.

The loss ends a disappointing 2024 campaign for the Trojans. USC has regressed in each of the last two seasons under Riley and questions continue to remain about the future of the program.

USC will wait to find out on Dec. 8 where they will be playing their bowl game.

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