For USC Trojan fans, there’s one week during college football’s regular season that stands above all others. One week where the game is about more than just the game. One week where “Beat the Irish” becomes the new “Hello” and the Jeweled Shillelagh is the most coveted trophy in sports.
But an interesting thing has happened since Pete Carroll has taken over as head football coach at USC. After going back to South Bend in 2001 and leaving with a 27-16 defeat, Notre Dame week has stopped being about Notre Dame week.
On that first visit, Carroll took the team on a tour of the College Football Hall of Fame as well as the Notre Dame campus. But after suffering the largest defeat of his USC tenure, Carroll discovered one of the beliefs that have become a staple of his coaching philosophy: No game is bigger than any other.
During this week’s press conference and post-practice media sessions, neither Carroll nor his Trojan players once mentioned the added importance of it being Notre Dame week. Sure, they talked about respecting the opponent and the rivalry, but nothing was spoken about how they “needed” this win or how a victory over the Irish would validate their season.
Former Trojan wide receiver John Jackson has marveled at Carroll’s consistency in that regard for the past eight years.
“One of the top-three reasons that Pete has had success has to be his approach to each game,” Jackson said. “Whether it’s the National Championship game, Notre Dame, the Kickoff Classic, whatever, Pete-coached teams approach these “big games” the same way: We’re just going to play and just do what we do.”
It hasn’t always been that way for the Trojans, and perhaps nobody knows that better than Jackson.
20 years ago, Jackson’s Trojans traveled to Notre Dame to take on the No. 1-ranked Irish during his senior season.
In a game that might be best remembered for the pre-game brawl that took place in the tunnel leading to the field and a hard-fought, 28-24 comeback win for Notre Dame, but Jackson has a different memory.
In a game where Jackson set what was at the time a single-game record for opponent receiving yards at Notre Dame Stadium, not even that registered as the most memorable aspect of the day.
“Without question that’s the most memorable game I played in, and I could probably regurgitate every catch and play from it,” Jackson said. “But the part that was the most meaningful to me was the night before, the seniors called a players-only meeting. We got it off our chests, what it was going to take – the effort we’d need to play with. It was the most emotional and meaningful time with my teammates in terms of what we said and the commitment we made as a unit to play for each other the next day.
“That meeting itself was probably the most inspirational moment of the game itself,” Jackson continued. “It was really symbolic for me of how special it is to be a Trojan. We may not have won the game, but I’d never felt more a part of something than I did that night before the game.”
But perhaps the strangest thing about that memory for Jackson is that if given the chance, he wouldn’t do it again.
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” he said. “Every time I went back there (three times in his playing career), that was the talk of the week. We saw highlights from great games of the past and all that stuff. I truly think that although that was the norm back then, looking back on it, I don’t think that’s the right way to prepare.”
It’s no wonder that Jackson consistently mentions Carroll’s determination to treat each game like any other. After witnessing the consistent build-up to the game as a player and coming out on the losing end in all five tries, Jackson has become just like the rest of us now that his playing days are over.
Working as a sideline reporter at Notre Dame Stadium in 2005, Jackson was able to witness his first Trojan victory in South Bend. And while he may be in favor of keeping things simple heading into the game as a player, there’s no denying how important this game is to those of us who aren’t donning shoulder pads and helmets.
“That was my first time going back there and walking off the field as a winner,” Jackson said. “After that game ended, I did my job, then went back into the stadium all by myself and walked from one end of the field to the other – all 100 yards. The stadium was empty, but I just wanted to get the feeling of walking off that field as a winner, something that eluded me during my college days.”
Jackson had a tremendous career at USC, graduating as the all-time leading receiver in school history. He remembers a three-touchdown performance and a game-winning catch against Stanford, but none of those memories compare to what he did against the Irish.
“It’s different when it’s a rival,” Jackson said. “They keep history of these games. You know as a player when you suit up, it’s going to be historical. People are going to talk about it forever. Whether it’s 38-0 or the Bush Push or a field goal at the end to win it, or Anthony Davis having a huge game, it’s going to be history. When you get dressed up in that game, you think, ‘Today I’m going to be a part of history.’”
Over the years, an argument could be made for USC rivalries with several Pac-10 teams – obviously UCLA most notably – but the Notre Dame rivalry easily eclipses them all.
“The reason we moved to California was because my dad became a coach at USC,” Jackson said. “That was my introduction to the rivalry. But when you’re growing up, you always hear about USC and UCLA. But I remember one of my first USC – Notre Dame games (in 1978), when Frank Jordan kicked a field goal at the end of the game to win it. That was my first recognition that USC’s biggest rival is Notre Dame.”
Former Trojan offensive lineman Jeremy Hogue finished his playing career against the Irish with the same record as Jackson. Hogue’s final year was 1995, when he was on the field as a terrific and undefeated Trojan squad fumbled away a chance to end a 12-game Irish unbeaten streak. USC went on to beat Notre Dame in each of the next three seasons, but Hogue still remembers never beating the Irish.
Still though, the rivalry holds a special place for him.
“It is so much bigger than any one player or team,” Hogue said. “You think about all the players who played in this rivalry, and all of them are their own legends. But they were all just small parts of how big this rivalry is. And it’s national. It’s not Oklahoma – Texas or Michigan – Ohio State, or Alabama – Auburn, where many people around the country don’t care. This is big everywhere.”
As Saturday creeps closer, and fans from both sides work their way to a fever pitch, the Trojan and Irish football teams prepare themselves for the 81st chapter in college football’s greatest intersectional rivalry.
But as they look to run their record to eight-straight wins in the series, this year’s Trojan team is treating Saturday as just another game.
One that will live on forever.
