Notre Dame Ends Losing Streak to USC With Rain-Soaked Victory

The rain came down, and the reign ended.

Notre Dame halted eight years of misery at the hands of USC Saturday evening with a 20-16 victory as sheets of rain blanketed the Los Angeles Coliseum. If ever there were weather that augured the end of a drought, this indeed was it. This was a baptism of sorts for a Fighting Irish team that completed its first perfect November since 2005, former coach Charlie Weis' inaugural season.

And for once, for the first time in as long as anyone associated with the program can recall, the Irish had luck on their side. Trojan wide receiver Ronald Johnson, who was wide open on a post pattern after Irish safety Harrison Smith slipped and fell, dropped a perfectly placed pass from Mitch Mustain that would have provided the game-winning 53-yard touchdown pass. Four plays and many a gray hair later, Smith intercepted Mustain on the Irish one-yard line to clinch the first win for the Domers in this series since 2001.

Since Bob Davie. That's three Irish head coaches ago.

The school with the French name and the Irish mascot thus concluded a regular season worthy of a Russian novel. It has been a season that featured defection, a mysterious illness (assistant coach Mike Elston's still undisclosed virus that sent him to the Mayo Clinic), an ambush ("Little Giants"), an imperious Cardinal, a second ambush (Navy), an ungodly rate of attrition and, of course, a tragic death.

But, and only after the Irish plummeted to a nadir heretofore unseen in their history, resilience. The Irish defense, which on October 2nd ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit referred to as "a high school defense," allowed just one touchdown in their final 15 quarters of play. That score, by USC, came on the fourth down of a two-yard drive after freshman quarterback Tommy Rees fumbled after being hit by USC defensive end Nick Perry.

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The transformation, though witnessed via national television the past four weeks, still begs disbelief. An Irish defense that had been thoroughly gashed by Navy and that looked ready to set a new low-water mark for ineptitude (set only a season ago) in terms of yards allowed became impenetrable.

Earlier in the week Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly had remarked that he had gone from having a group of talented individuals to "having a team." Initially, he had gone from having a group of talented individuals to not having a group of talented individuals. The month of October claimed quarterback Dayne Crist, tight end Kyle Rudolph, tailback Armando Allen and nose tackle Ian Williams to season-ending injuries. Almost anyone familiar with the program would claim that they represented four of the team's top six (the others being wide receiver Michael Floyd and inside linebacker Manti Te'o) players.

One way or another, someone's odyssey was going to end with a bow on it Saturday night at the Coliseum. For Notre Dame, it was the eight-year stretch of losses (the Irish have never lost to any school more than eight straight) to USC, a drought that included a 38-point home loss, a couple of 31-point losses in Los Angeles, and a pair of heart-wrenching defeats in South Bend that ended with a failed play in the south end zone.

For USC, it was the perplexing five-year odyssey of quarterback Mitch Mustain. The 2005 National High School Player of the Year, Mustain enrolled at Arkansas and went 8-0 as a starter as a true freshman. Mustain's first game action, oddly enough, came versus Southern California.

However, caught in the midst of a good old-fashioned feud involving his head coach, Houston Nutt (now the coach at Mississippi), and an assistant coach who had also been Mustain's high school coach (Gus Malzahn, now the offensive coordinator at Auburn), Mustain transferred to USC. At the time the Trojans were handing out Heisman Trophies to offensive backfield players along with cardinal jerseys.

Mustain sat a year due to transfer rules. Then he sat another year due to Mark Sanchez. And another year due to Matt Barkley. Only after Barkley went down with an ankle injury did Mustain, 61-2 as a starter dating back to seventh grade, get his first start since 2006.

It would have been a heroic ending, had Johnson held onto the football.

Instead, Notre Dame avoided its third consecutive 6-6 season. The Irish are 7-5 and likely headed to the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando. USC is 7-5 and headed to the Rose Bowl. The stadium, not the game. The Trojans, who are on probation, visit UCLA next Saturday in their season finale.

If you are Brian Kelly, it must seem like 10 years ago since you first ran out of the tunnel at Notre Dame Stadium for the season-opener against Purdue. Seasons rarely, if ever, include as much emotional upheaval as this one has for the gold-helmeted gang. What will be remembered is that a team that had nothing going for it, and absolutely no confidence or sense of purpose when the calendar page last turned, put together its most impressive three-game streak in years.

And, finally, lifted the albatross of its most ignominious losing streak from its neck. Once again Notre Dame and USC is a rivalry.

It's about time.