FOOTBALL

If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column

It’s an awful feeling if you are a USC fan going to watch the Trojans play a historic opponent in an amazing setting . . . with one hand tied behind your back.

That is the burden of rolling into Notre Dame Stadium with Charles Clay Helton as your football coach on Saturday.

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly might have his drawbacks but he’s now a towering figure next to Helton. Whatever you want to say about how Saturday’s game will turn out, no one thinks Helton will outcoach Kelly.

It’s a shame if you place importance on this rivalry that your team cannot even match wits with the opposing coach. And more than a few players realize it too.

  • Legendary USC assistant coach Marv Goux was famous for his motivational talks before the Notre Dame game. They actually originated in the basement of the old P.E. building at USC, which used to be where the football locker room was located and still stands.

“It was crowded and that’s what they wanted,” said former USC assistant Dave Levy.

Goux, the band and the song girls would pack the basement with the team. A player would also speak. These were the original “jock rallies” which now take place outside Heritage Hall on Friday afternoons.

  • Don’t ever let anyone tell you that someone besides USC is Notre Dame’s rivalry game.

“I’m the caretaker of this program,” Kelly said Thursday. “I believe this is the rivalry game. There are other teams we have great respect for, but I believe this is that game.”

  • Notre Dame will hold a walk-through in its stadium at 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday. USC players will probably be sleeping because it will be 7:30 a.m. to them and the Trojans don’t arrive until Friday night.
  • USC might not leave for Notre Dame until Friday but president Carol Folt was in Chicago on Thursday night speaking to a group of alumni. Meanwhile, Helton was at the Corona-Centennial game on Thursday night.
  • The post-season struggles of Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw are a good time to point out it is the 60th anniversary of the Dodgers winning the 1959 World Series at the Coliseum. Dodgers pitcher Larry Sherry won two games and saved two in the World Series. Sherry was the MVP and had a 0.71 ERA in 12 2/3 innings.
  • The USC band has made every trip to Notre Dame since 1973. It all started when a group of band members approached Art Bartner earlier that year with the idea of making the Notre Dame road trip. Among them was trombonist and band student manager Ken Dye.

Dye will also be at Saturday’s game because for the past 22 years he has been Notre Dame’s band director. With Bartner retiring, it will be interesting to see if USC pursues Dye.

  • And finally, it you go to the game, stop by the only USC tailgate that sets up right outside the Notre Dame Stadium parking lot.
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22 thoughts on “If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column”

  1. In ’58 LA finished in 7th place then come back to win it all in ’59. The crumbling mausoleum WS attendance records will never be exceeded.

    Not sure if the ’58 – ’59 Dodgers rags to riches NL rebound has ever been equaled.

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    1. Don’t believe so by a World Series champion…closest I can recall would be Yaz and the ’67 Red Sox who nearly did it (lost game 7 to Bob Gibson and the Cardinals)…

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      4. I think there are a lot of parallels between the two periods…the Dodgers have been extremely good, but don’t believe they were ever the best team at any time in either…and always managing to find ways to run into the wrong pitchers…interesting how two of the least likely teams in ’81 and ’88 won in upset fashion…

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      5. I would never wish the Dodgers any disappointment.

        #ExceptThatLast2-1GameAgainstStLouisIn’62.
        #BelatedKissesFromMarichalForJohnnyR.

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  2. I’m not sure Scott knows this but the Spirit of Troy will be reprising their first field show at Notre Dame. They will be playing “Frankenstein” from the Edgar Winter group again. Or actually the 73 trip wasn’t the first trip to Chicago. My high school band teacher attended USC and rode the train with the band to the game. Nobody tell Scott because we all know how much he hates repeat band shows.

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    1. Also should it be one hand tied behind their back? I mean the sentence is saying the people watching the game will be in their seats with one hand tied behind their back not the team. Oh well awkward either way.

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  3. Interesting to note that Notre Dame starting QB is Ian Book, a 3 star pro style QB from El Dorado, California. So both SC and NC will have 3 star QB’s starting.

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    2. What strikes me, 67, is how much more honest and straightforward than Helton Kelly sounds. He just puts it out there. Helton always sounds like he ‘s running for City Council…
      #btw,IStillThinkUSCIsGonnaWin

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      1. Michael, Yes, Helton sounds like an LA city politician. Smiling and glad-handing as the problems just keeping piling up…

        Kelly has already told us what he is going to do on defense.

        #MarkeseSteppTime

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      2. 67 —Yeah, thanks for the link. I’m very surprised at the degree of honesty that we heard from Kelly. He actually said that USC could beat them with the pass and they will do what they have to prevent that from happening (i.e., expect 8 guys patrolling the secondary). He LAUGHED at our run yardage against Washington —saying that we didn’t (and couldn’t) win the game that way. [I don’t know if you noticed but it seems that Kelly was a bit nervous when he discussed the possibility that USC might play as blitz-aggressive as we did last year —he’s obviously hoping we don’t]…..

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      3. Michael, yes indeed, I noticed that remark about the aggressive blitzing in last year’s game. It seems that it is very hard to apply pressure on the opposing QB without resorting to the blitz. It seems that Pendergast caught the domers off guard last year, but they are ready for it this year.

        #ItIsPendergast’sMove

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      4. 67 —I hear ya. They’ve seen our blitz package before —and they’ve had plenty of time to think about it — & are theoretically ready to take advantage of it with quick, short passes. But thinking about it and dealing with it in real time are 2 different things. I hope Clancy comes after them again —only fiercer. Being under pressure the whole game makes it a lot less fun to play quarterback.

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