Noie: Notre Dame football delivers a determined, decisive knockout punch of rival USC

SOUTH BEND — Staggering toward a bye week like someone who spent too much time over at the Linebacker Lounge or out in the Joyce lot before kickoff, the No. 21 Notre Dame football team decided that it was time.

Time to flip the script and deliver an effort that few on the outside saw coming from a team that seemingly was too worn down and wounded. Time to play inspired and intelligent football one week after indifferent and invisible. Time to make USC quarterback Caleb Williams feel like he’d been tossed into play-making jail instead of turning the soggy surface of Notre Dame Stadium into his personal pass-happy playground.

Time to stop feeling sorry for themselves. Time to be everything they talked about this team being about this season. Time to bounce back with a beatdown of their most storied rival.

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Time to show that they’re not done — or dead — just yet while delivering a 48-20 victory over No. 10 and previously undefeated Southern California in a game that was never close and still doesn’t seem real. Fireworks after this one went final? Really?

Notre Dame was solid on Saturday. Notre Dame was special on Saturday. Even the most hardened Subway Alum would have to squint to find much fault in this one. You just beat USC by four touchdowns. Can life for an Irish football fan be any better?

Saturday was everything that quarterback Sam Hartman believed it could be when he decided on one more year of college football — and one year — in South Bend. Long after this one went final, Hartman remained in full uniform, smiling wider and wider as the raucous celebration from the student body, who marched up the tunnel and out into the Northern Indiana night, kept surging.

“They’re riled up out there,” Hartman said. “It’s awesome.”

They also rushed the field — more like meandered from the north end zone stands — after this one. It was a half-hearted field rush at best. Like, we almost got to rush it against Ohio State, so we’ll kind of rush it against USC.

Saturday was everything that safety Xavier Watts dreamed it might be for him in college, only on the other side of the football. Watts admitted after his game of a lifetime (seven tackles, two interceptions, one forced fumble, one fumble return, one touchdown) that he floated through his role for a while, going through the motions and playing without emotion after a move from wide receiver to safety to wide receiver and back to safety in August 2022.

But this staff saw something in him that Watts likely didn’t see in himself, saw him delivering a game like he delivered Saturday, when he was always in the right place at the right time. He played like so many a safety for USC. You know their names.

“I don’t know,” Watts said of why Saturday was his night. “I was just kind of angry from that (Louisville loss). Just wanted to dominate.”

He did. The defense did.

Saturday was everything that running back Audric Estime believed it could be. He saw it coming early in the week when the Louisville wounds were still fresh, raw and open. The offensive line would be better. It was. Estime would be better. He was, finishing with 95 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns.

“We,” Estime said, “knew something big was about to happen.”

Big? Yes. This big? Nobody knew that.

Saturday was everything that head coach Marcus Freeman believed this team could be in answering adversity — and a game that he needed for his coaching career moving forward. Beating USC the way Notre Dame beat USC absolves the head coach of a lot of head coaching sins. It just does.

“I don’t have a whole bunch of words,” said Freeman, who then offered a whole bunch of words in his post-game presser. “Not every week you get an opportunity to get a victory like this. We’re going to enjoy this one.”

This team, this head coach, had to experience Marshall and Stanford last season so Clemson could happen. This team, this head coach, had to experience Ohio State and Louisville this season so USC could happen. Why? College football’s funny like that. Sometimes, college kids respond like college kids. College coaches too. No use trying to figure it out or make sense of it.

Following that Louisville loss, Freeman promised a deep dive into all corners of his program. The offensive line? Look at it hard. The poor tackling? Look at it hard. The penalties? Same. All of it called for, but what the Irish really needed was one demand of Freeman for this program to take on one trait.

To be anti-fragile. It was the new buzzword for a difficult and demanding week.

What does it mean to be anti-fragile?

To respond to adversity. To not run from it. To embrace everything that went wrong in Kentucky and make it right. To bounce back in ways that maybe they didn’t believe. To not accept the status quo. To Choose Hard.

“Weeks that you lose are really long, especially around here,” said Freeman, who may have aged six years in the six days between games. “It is what it is. You have to pick up your head and go back to work.”

Analysis: How Notre Dame football knocked around 'King' Caleb Williams in 48-20 romp

Notre Dame (6-2) went back to work, then delivered in almost every single area well enough to turn this one into a laugher. Many figured this one might go sideways, but not the team from the West Coast short-circuiting at every turn.

A week after the Irish couldn't get out of their own way, the Trojans operated from the same playbook. One team wanted this game. The other needed it. The other won.

Coming free of the season’s second loss, the Irish looked in desperate need of a bye week. On Saturday, Notre Dame looked healthy enough and energized enough and together enough to play another eight weeks without a break.

Not really.

“Man, it feels like Ireland was a year ago,” said sophomore running back Jadarian Price, who sealed this deal with a 99-yard kick return early in the fourth quarter.”

Everybody around this program can use a bye break. Whether they realized it Saturday or not, they again raised the bar. Hartman raised it. Watts raised it. The defense raised it. Estime raised it. Even Freeman raised it. Last week, many wondered how many losses would land on the season’s ledger. Three? Four? More?

How the points were scored: Notre Dame blasts No. 10 USC, 48-20 Saturday night

Before midnight Sunday, as the Rev. John Jenkins, outgoing university president and Jack Swarbrick, outgoing athletic director, sat in the post-game interview room each clutching a game ball, a 10-win season was again a possibility. Run the table? Why not?

Notre Dame finally looked Saturday like Notre Dame is supposed to look against the game’s elite. All is again right with Notre Dame football, at least for a few weeks. Enjoy it. Embrace it. You don't know how long it will last.

With this team, it seemingly never does.

Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact: (574) 235-6153.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football looked college football elite in dismissing No. 10 USC