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Know your foe, USC: Five Trojans who could give Notre Dame problems

Michael Chen
·3 min read

As we all know, wide receiver Drake London has been getting a lot of publicity recently and rightfully so. He’s fourth in the NCAA in yardage, and has four straight 100-yard games. London is an absolute monster but the Trojan’s aren’t a one-trick pony. The have lot of talent and these are five other USC players who could give Notre Dame problems Saturday night.

Wide receiver Gary Bryant Jr.

With all the defensive back’s attention turned towards London, Bryant has done a great job of making plays in limited action. Three his last four games, he’s scored a touchdown, even without putting up big yardage numbers.

He’s on the smaller side for a receiver, also finding the endzone once as a runner as well. Bryant Jr. will have opportunities to make some plays and the Irish have to be aware of where he is even when London is on the field.

Defender Drake Jackson

Aside from London, Jackson is the other player NFL teams are drooling to have on their roster. He’s huge, at six-foot-four-inches and 250-pounds, and lines up everywhere.

Mainly used as an edge rusher, the Irish have had problems all year at offensive tackle and at times quarterback Jack Coan has been a sitting duck. Three sacks, 18 tackles, a forced and recovered fumble with an interception on this year should give you an idea of how impressive the defender is. Jackson could be in line for a big game against the Notre Dame offensive line.

Safety Isaiah Pola-Mao

I really could have slotted this as a group because they have all been very solid, seven players, seven interceptions. The senior Pola-Mao has been very good over his career, 5 interceptions, none this year though.

He had 11-tackles against Oregon State, so he’s not afraid to get involved in the run game. You really never know which Coan will show up, he’s been known to make a few questionable decisions so Pola-Moa could be the guy to take advantage of one of those throws.

The quarterback’s

Kelly expects that Kedon Slovis will be the starter and I would be that he is too. However, like the Irish, the Trojans aren’t afraid to pull Slovis and insert freshman Jaxson Dart. He’s dealing with a knee injury but should be available and he’s lived up to his high ranking coming out of high school.

Both have been a bit careless with the ball but complete around 65% of their throws and have piled up the yardage. Whoever plays behind center will have to be bothered by the Irish defensive line and force them into mistakes, which they have made this year, 7 interceptions between them.

Linebacker Kana’i Mauga

The senior has really come around recently, in his last three games, Mauga has had 6, 8, and 11 tackles. He’s excellent in run support and solid in pass coverage. Mauga has added a sack as well against Washington State.

A very solid career for the Trojans, if the Irish try and establish the run game, Mauga could have a big game, filling the gaps for USC.

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