The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the USC Trojans square off Saturday night in South Bend, Indiana in a Top 20 battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh. The Irish enter this matchup riding a four-game winning streak and are ranked No. 13 in the country. The Trojans are coming off of their biggest win in the Big 10 beating the then ranked No. 15 Michigan Wolverines 31-13 in the Coliseum. Every season, these two teams square off in a battle multiple implications, but this season might be the biggest game for both Marcus Freeman and Lincoln Riley.
These two college football powerhouses also routinely face off on the recruiting trail as California has been a recruiting hotbed for quite some time. Add in the fact that Notre Dame's former Director of Recruiting is now with the USC Trojans, this matchup is all the more interesting. Let’s look at the recruiting comparison, using the On3 rankings to compare.
Notre Dame Offense vs USC Defense
Notre Dame has nine four-star players, two three-star players and one unranked player in their projected offensive starting lineup for Saturday. USC has six four-star players, three three-star players and two unranked players in the projected defensive starting lineup.
On paper, this matchup favors Notre Dame. Every former four-star player in their offensive starting lineup was a former Top 300 recruit according to On3 except center Joe Otting who will be stepping into the starting lineup this weekend. This group is headlined by right guard Guerby Lambert (No. 42), quarterback CJ Carr (No. 68) and running back Jeremiyah Love (No. 77). USC has five former Top 300 recruits in their projected starting lineup headlined by defensive end Anthony Lucas (No. 42), defensive end Kameryn Crawford (No. 63) and cornerback Marcelles Williams (No. 158). The highest rated recruit for the Trojans on defense rotates in at defensive tackle. Former five-star recruit Keeshawn Silver was the No. 22 rated player in his class.
Both teams have unranked players in their starting lineup and both teams can say their unranked players are playing above their initial rating, or lack thereof. For Notre Dame, wide receiver Jordan Faison currently leads the team in receptions (29) and yards (376) and is tied for second on the team in touchdown receptions (2). For USC, safety Bishop Fitzgerald currently leads the team, by a wide margin, in interceptions on the season with five.
Notre Dame Defense vs USC Offense
Notre Dame has eight four-star players and three three-star players in their projected defensive starting lineup for Saturday. USC has three four-star players, seven three-star players and one unranked player in their projected offensive starting lineup for Saturday.
Again, on paper this matchup favors Notre Dame. The Irish have eight former Top 300 recruits in their starting lineup headlined by linebacker Jaylen Sneed (No. 35), defensive end Bryce Young (No. 56) and linebacker Drayk Bowen (No. 103). They also have seven former Top 300 recruits in their top reserves headlined by linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (No. 43), defensive end Joshua Burnham (No. 108) and cornerback Dallas Golden (No. 108). USC, on the other hand, only has two former Top 300 recruits in their starting lineup in wide receiver Makai Lemon (No. 37) and left tackle Elijah Paige (No. 209).
With that being said, the majority of USC's offense is playing above their initial recruiting rankings. Quarterback Jayden Maiava (No. 968) is one of the top quarterbacks in the Big 10 from a statistical perspective. Tight end Lake McRee is third on the team in yards (289) and receptions (14) and center J'Onre Reed, their only unranked playing in the starting lineup, has yet to allow a sack this season. The Irish are familiar with players playing above their initial recruiting rankings. Cornerback Leonard Moore is arguably their best player on defense and was a three-star recruit coming out of high school.
CLASS RANKINGS
Here are the class rankings of the two programs from the last five seasons (247 Composite Rankings)
Notre Dame
2025 – 12
2024 – 9
2023 – 12
2022 – 7
2021 – 9
USC
2025 – 13
2024 – 17
2023 – 8
2022 – 70
2021 – 7
Advantage: Notre Dame
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