Notre Dame players reflect on 2022 loss to USC and the importance of Saturday's game

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind -- With the playoff hopes on the line, Notre Dame can kill two birds with one stone if they can manage to redeem their 38-27 loss to the Trojans.

Although it was two years ago, the players and coaches who were on the plane ride home from Los Angeles haven't forgotten what that loss to USC was like.

"That was about as disappointed as I've ever been as a coach, and I didn't do a very good job to getting the guys ready to play that day," Defensive Coordinator Al Golden said.

The final score showed an 11-point difference, but it felt like much more. Nearly two years later after losing to USC and there former Heisman winning quarterback Caleb Williams, the pain still resides.

"I mean, the past two years, playing them, there's, only been times where I can't like them," Defensive Lineman Junior Tuihalamaka mentioned.

For those who weren't part of the team two years ago, Freeman is going the extra mile to emphasize his pain.

"It's very similar to kind of after NIU. It's more of like a motivation and like when he brings it, when he brings something up in the past, like he does it for a purpose and for a reason," Quarterback Riley Leonard said.

"He (Marcus Freeman) shares vulnerability on himself first. He said he wanted to ignore watching a fourth and one that happened, but he forced himself to do it and forced himself to remember exactly how he felt in that moment," Leonard added.

"Walking in the locker room, they have the game from I believe, two years ago, when Notre Dame lost, all on the TVs, all around the locker room. I've already been watching all the plays, I almost have them memorized. But he (Marcus Freeman) does a good job, and just in the team meetings, he does a good job of explaining what that feeling was like a couple of years ago, not letting us forget how big of a game this is," Wide Receiver Beaux Collins mentioned.

There's still time between Monday and Notre Dame's biggest game this season, but when November 30, 2024, arrives, there should be no reason the Irish aren't ready to go.

"There's nothing that needs to be said. You know, if you're, if you're watching Godfather two and Hyman Roth's talking to Michael Corleone, you know what's on in the background, right? It's Notre Dame versus USC, and that's all we got to say. I mean, that's it at the end of the day. It's a great opportunity for us, and we're blessed to be a part of it, and our job is to honor that," Golden added.