Creating confidence, calling on pride
The Irish must play better. They must work on executing plays mistake-free, blocking and tackling better, reducing penalties, and producing a more technically sound game. From that comes confidence, and don't underestimate the boost that can give Notre Dame.

This Irish team has to play with something else besides confidence. It has to play with pride. When these players put on the Notre Dame uniform it would be crazy to believe they don't realize the great football tradition which exists at the school that they represent. But realizing it is one thing, and showing it on the field is another.

That tradition and pride can't be expected to win them games outright, but it should certainly help drive and motivate them to performances considerably above what has been seen for most of the season.

Opponents see blood in the Blue-and-Gold waters. USC will be coming hard. The Irish seniors have to lead by example for this young team. They must get their teammates to come off the heels of what's happened to them so far and realize they still have a lot to play for this season.

Seniors demonstrate responsibility by their demeanor, by their actions, and by their play. They are counted on to not diminish the hopes and dreams of the younger players on the team -- no matter how bad things may be going. Instead, the charge for these seniors is to set clear examples of athletes who embody the spirit of Notre Dame football.

Another classic ending in store?
Two years ago in South Bend these two teams played a thriller. Notre Dame nearly had the No. 1 team in the nation beaten, but USC quarterback Matt Leinart snuck over the goal line with three seconds to go and the Irish went from potential 31-28 winners to stunned 34-31 losers.

Could there be another thriller on tap?

Well, the Irish are much different personnel wise than in 2005. They are a predominantly young team now where two years ago they were stocked with experience in a lot of areas including the offensive line, tight end, receivers, running back, and quarterback. There was notable experience on defense as well.

Even if USC isn't the USC of recent seasons, it's still a very good football team, even if it hasn't played like one of late. The Irish have made progress the last few weeks, and included in that progress was an upset of UCLA. Notre Dame hopes with the improvement that's taken place, the matchup with the Trojans will be a competitive one.

Notre Dame-USC is one of the greatest rivalries in college football. The Irish can draw inspiration from that and it can lead them to put a great value on every single play. Usually when it comes to the Irish and the Trojans knocking heads, you can throw out the records and the rankings. The last few weeks the Irish have played with much more emotion. They need to keep that coming against USC on Saturday and see what happens.

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