A loss at Boston College sent Steve Sarkisian and the Trojans plummeting in the rankings. (Getty Images)
A loss at Boston College sent Steve Sarkisian and the Trojans plummeting in the rankings. (Getty Images)

The 86th meeting between USC and Notre Dame will take place November 29. (ND leads the series, 45-35-5, and has won the last two meetings). As the two programs progress toward rivalry week, we'll take a weekly look at current trends, and the current state of hostilities, between the Trojans and the Fighting Irish.

Days until game: 74

2014 Notre Dame-USC power index: 1. Notre Dame (3-0); 2. USC (2-1)

Last week: Notre Dame defeated Purdue (30-14); USC lost to Boston College (37-31)

Notre Dame this week: Bye week (next game: at Syracuse, 9/27)

USC this week: Bye week (next game: vs. Oregon State, 9/27)

Notre Dame storyline: Lots of stuff to reset during the bye week. Many expected a rout of Purdue but had to settle for the second-half muscle-flexing that put away a not very good, but very scrappy, Purdue team. So even dyed-in-the-wool Irish loyalists are still trying to determine how good this team really is. There's some burgeoning talk about Everett Golson and the Heisman race (11 touchdowns accounted for, 0 interceptions through three games), which is fun conversation for a program that has had one offensive player finish top-5 in the Heisman in the last 20 years (Brady Quinn). There's the worrying MCL sprains for safety Austin Collinsworth (who hasn't played yet) and wideout Amir Carlisle (who left the Purdue game). And oh yeah, there's those five suspended players whose status for the rest of the year remains unknown and/or a state secret amid an academic probe. 

USC storyline: Was it a letdown, or were the Trojans exposed? One week after what was perceived in some quarters as a statement-making win at Stanford, the goodwill was washed away with a surprising loss against what could still turn out to be a second-tier ACC team in Boston College. So, can a defense that allowed 452 yards on the ground recover? Can a team that reportedly brought just 55 scholarship players to Chestnut Hill really expect to compete for a Pac-12 title? On the positive tip, Cody Kessler (31-of-41 passing, 317 yards, 4 TD) played well at BC, which was a thin silver lining for a team that had struggled to move the ball at times against Stanford. 

Moment in hatestory: October 14, 1961

Readers of this space have been clamoring for more archival public domain footage, and we're here to deliver. This meeting just before the dawn of the Notre Dame-USC rivalry's golden age, and for the Trojans, it was indeed darkest right before the dawn. This 30-0 shellacking was the Irish's fifth straight win and second straight shutout of the Trojans, with "Mad Bomber" Daryle Lamonica doing most of the heavy lifting in this installment. USC would get revenge with a shutout of its own in 1962, en route to its first national title under John McKay. 

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