\u201cWe just flat-out did not play good enough tonight against a good team on the road,\u201d USC coach Lincoln Riley<\/a> said. \u201c[We] had some missed opportunities that make you sick right now.\u201d<\/p>\n The game seemed well on its way to a different sort of conclusion, when the 13th-ranked Irish shanked a 31-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. Three plays later, USC quarterback Jayden Maiava<\/a> found wideout Makai Lemon<\/a> for a 42-yard gain.<\/p>\n The game\u2019s momentum was suddenly back in the hands of Riley and his dynamic offense. That\u2019s when the Trojans coach dialed up a harebrained trick play that even he couldn\u2019t defend when asked about it later.<\/p>\n Sprinting right on an end-around, Lemon took the handoff from Maiava and immediately found himself trapped by the descending Notre Dame defense. So Lemon cocked the ball as if he were going to throw, only to have the ball stripped away.<\/p>\n Asked what led him to choose that particular play, in that particular moment, Riley was curt.<\/p>\n \u201cStupid call,\u201d he said. \u201cStupid call.\u201d<\/p>\n It was hardly the first time that Riley\u2019s playcalling has been called into question after a loss. But even he questioned his own decision making Saturday \u2014 notably when the Trojans twice came up empty on fourth and short.<\/p>\n Notre Dame\u2019s Jalen Sneed attempts to sack USC quarterback Jayden Maiava during the first quarter Saturday in South Bend, Ind. <\/p>\n (Paul Beaty \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n \u201cI had the reverse pass and two fourth-down calls that weren\u2019t very good calls and didn\u2019t put our guys in very good positions,\u201d Riley said. \u201cI\u2019ve gotta be way better for our guys.\u201d<\/p>\n The fumble, for Lemon, was a rare misstep from the Trojans\u2019 star wideout, but an especially costly one. It took seven plays for Notre Dame to find the end zone after that, as quarterback C.J. Carr punched it in from one yard out to put the game away.<\/p>\n There were other mistakes made and opportunities squandered Saturday long before the Irish would deal that finishing blow. On the drive before Lemon\u2019s fumble, Maiava threw an interception, his first of two in the final 20 minutes. The drive after, USC failed on a critical fourth and one at midfield, as the Irish blanketed tight end Lake McRee in the flat on a play-action pass.<\/p>\n Of course, the loss couldn\u2019t be distilled down to just a few spare plays, either. USC was steamrolled on the ground by Notre Dame\u2019s rushing attack, which piled up 306 yards, the second-most by any team during Riley\u2019s tenure with the Trojans.<\/p>\n Most of that production came, as expected, from Jeremiyah Love, who burst out of the gate Saturday with a 63-yard scamper. He racked up a career-high 228 rushing yards to go with two touchdowns, as USC\u2019s run defense made simple errors that the Irish exploited with ease.<\/p>\n Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love runs for a touchdown in the first quarter against USC Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium.<\/p>\n (Justin Casterline \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n \u201cI just thought we overcompensated and, at times, panicked a little bit,\u201d Riley said of the run defense.<\/p>\n Their lack of a rushing attack was also a cause for panic. A week after he rushed for 158 yards, King Miller<\/a> came back to Earth against the Irish, as the walk-on finished with 70 yards in 18 carries. The rest of USC\u2019s run game was a literal net negative, accounting for minus-24 yards.<\/p>\n The disparity between the two rushing attacks was especially stark considering the conditions, as rain poured down, harder and harder with every passing possession in the second half. Instead of counting on the run, which powered its offense in recent weeks, the Trojans were forced to rely on Maiava throwing into a driving rain.<\/p>\n Maiava, who completed a season-low 52% of his passes, said the rain didn\u2019t affect him. But he wasn\u2019t at all happy with how he performed.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, just played s\u2014,\u201d Maiava said. \u201cGotta be better for my teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760915050_106_hqdefault.jpg\")
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