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USC Morning Buzz: Who Can Step Up To Save Notre Dame Series?

There are some former USC players legitimately trying to save the Notre Dame rivalry.

Can they do it? Hopefully. But it comes without the support of Lincoln Riley and a non-committal Jen Cohen.

A better prospect might be the Board of Trustees: There are 37 voting trustees and 38 life trustees. One of the life trustees is Tamara Hughes Gustavson, the daughter of the late Wayne Hughes, who donated nearly $400 million to USC and was a huge sports fan. It would be amazing if she supported saving the rivalry. And what about Rick Caruso? He still wields power.

What’s also missing, however, is a blockbuster player coming out publicly and making a statement or joining a campaign. I previously ruled out Reggie Bush because he is suing USC. But there are others who could step forward. Will they? Now is the time.

  • It’s always easy to criticize the College Football Hall of Fame ballot. But how did they decide that 2025 was the time to put former USC safety Taylor Mays on it? What happened to former USC safeties Dennis Smith, Joey Browner and Tim McDonald?

What happened to former USC safety Charles Phillips, who had three interceptions against Notre Dame in the famous 55-24 victory? He also had an NCAA record 302 yards in interception return yardage in 1974. He had 13 interceptions in his career. Mays had five.

And if we want to really complain, why is Chris Claiborne not on the ballot? He only won the Butkus Award. Claiborne intercepted six passes in 1998. And he played linebacker!

36 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Who Can Step Up To Save Notre Dame Series?”

  1. KAM: Academic institutions like USC think they have a problem and that its name is Donald Trump. But the difficulties are systemic, not only legal or political, and that means it’s time to reconsider what higher education should look like.

    The current institutional players like Carol Folt are in no condition to rethink higher education. Having cultivated and tolerated blatantly antisemitism Hamas solidarity encampments and violations of civil-rights laws, educrats from universities and colleges can’t afford candid introspection, lest it be understood as an admission of wrongdoing. They are controlled, moreover, by administrators who generally don’t have the stomach to recognize the damage they’ve done to higher education, let alone what should be done with their jobs.

    The academic failures of universities and colleges are obvious enough. Departments generally appoint their own faculty members—so that once a department is ideologically captured, it tends to tilt further in the same direction, inevitably producing instruction and research that, considered as a whole, is slanted and useless. Institutions then inculcate conformity, punish dissenters, and apply harsh disciplinary proceedings. Put another way, the recent antisemitism didn’t develop in a vacuum. It was nurtured amid ideological capture and selective enforcement of the rules by the Dean of Students. These are substantial impediments to the pursuit of truth.

    Part of the problem comes from government. It’s often said that we’re seeing the results of the left’s march through the institutions. But government policies, often based on twisted interpretations of Title IX civil-rights laws, accelerated ideological and administrative dominance. USC kicker Matt Boermeester’s expulsion was a natural product of such federal support of ideological dominance.

    DON: When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1536, the monks thought the danger came from Henry, but the underlying problem was Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press. Similarly, academic institutions like USC are fragile because knowledge is now available through the internet and artificial intelligence. For balanced inquiry, even academics increasingly look outside their universities.”

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    1. “Departments generally appoint their own faculty members—so that once a department is ideologically captured, it tends to tilt further in the same direction, inevitably producing instruction and research that, considered as a whole, is slanted and useless. “

      Absolutely true. A friend of mine was a full colonel in the USMC. Graduated with distinction from the Army War College. Had a masters in military history and was a history buff. He applied to several small colleges and community colleges for an adjunct history professor position and could not land one interview. All of the department heads favored candidates who were tilted toward anti capitalism, pro labor movement, atrocities of the white upper class on the poor, racial discrimination, ect.

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    1. KAM: USC dominated college football with a few dips for half a century from 1960 -2010. Yet as of 2024, only 35 former USC football players have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

      DON: That is a shamamockery!

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  3. KAM: What is this talk from Trojans that SC freezes up in big games?

    DON: Case in point– SC baseball gets beaten badly by Oregon St.; That’s not ‘freeze’ as much as it is ‘frozen aka these were games where Troy was clearly over-matched, so there’s no ‘joking’ involved here

    KAM: Darn-it-all if we don’t work well together

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      1. Did you see that Texas Teck’s softball team beat Oklahoma who had won the last four NC’s. Texas Tech paid ONE MILLION in NIL for a pitcher from Stanford, ONE MILLION. Girl had an ERA of 0.84 this year, money well spent I guess.

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      2. I guess we can’t say what an Oklahoma player said after the loss: “The game was cinematic —it was a great way to go out!”

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  4. KAM: Was USC that bad or was USC misled that they were a good team because they now play in the baseball inferior Big Ten?

    DON: Maybe USC should stop scheduling cupcake nonleague opponents like George Washington University and play Oregon State and other former Pac 12 foes like Arizona next season?

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    1. Long Beach St used to be good, not anymore & Fullerton who used to be a powerhouse isn’t anymore, even Loyola Marymount was somewhat good. Fresno St made the regional this year, San Diego St was awful. If you want to beef up the schedule you need to play the big boys in the south, don’t think Stanky is adverse to that but these schools have to have openings in their schedule and it costs money to travel and USC isn’t exactly swimming in money these days

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      1. USC isn’t exactly swimming in money these days? I thought that was the reason Carol Folt came up with this stupid idea to abandon the Pac 12: money.

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  5. KAM: I never read the Kam-Don imposter, he’s too mean and unrealistic when writing about my Democrats. But his column today caught my eye about the disintegration of balanced education, although he conceded that the college kids can augment their learning from “the internet and artificial intelligence”

    DON: Could you repeat that please?

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    1. KAM: I never read the Sparrow blather. He pretended Biden wasn’t senile for the last 5 years and never apologized for his treachery. Yet that doesn’t stop him from continuing to lecture us.

      DON: He is terminally whipped and will think whatever his feminazi wifey tells him to think. I wouldn’t be surprised if wifey writes half his nonsense.

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      1. Why would he apologize? They pretend the death & suffering that occurred as a result of our leadership’s incompetence & weakness was all unrelated to their stupidity in 2020. They live in a fantasy world.

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      2. John is a savvy guy — he’s proved it many times [especially in his game predictions]. He’s also repeatedly shown a compassionate side. It’s surprising that his empathy doesn’t extend to the people of East Palestine, or the mothers who had to watch the dems scowl as their dead children were given tribute at the State of the Union or the grandmothers who were [and still are] locked up for “trespassing” on January 6th or the soldiers and civilians killed needlessly [and with reckless disregard] in our Afghanistan withdrawal…. all courtesy of the dem party.

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      3. btw, DOJ investigations are making it clear the citizens of East Palestine, Pa. were ignored and lied to simply cuz they were Trump voters….. essentially they were forgotten in their time of dire need for political reasons…… courtesy of Biden and Company.

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      5. … the damn stuttering got so bad it made him fall down and walk into walls….

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      6. No Democrat tears for the 1200 Jews raped and murdered by Muslims on October 7th including hundreds of teens at the Nova Music Festival.

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    1. Nope… Here’s the list:

      Morley Drury (QB, 1925–1927), inducted in 1954

      Harry Smith (G, 1937–1939), inducted in 1955

      Erny Pinckert (HB, 1929–1931), inducted in 1957

      Aaron Rosenberg (G, 1931–1933), inducted in 1966

      Ernie Smith (T, 1930–1932), inducted in 1970

      Dan McMillan (T, 1917, 1919–1921), inducted in 1971

      Mort Kaer (HB, 1924–1926), inducted in 1972

      John Ferraro (T, 1943–1944, 1946–1947), inducted in 1974

      Frank Gifford (HB, 1949–1951), inducted in 1975

      Cotton Warburton (QB, 1932–1934), inducted in 1975

      Tay Brown (T, 1930–1932), inducted in 1980

      Johnny Baker (G, 1929–1931), inducted in 1983

      O. J. Simpson (HB, 1967–1968), inducted in 1983

      Mike Garrett (HB, 1963–1965), inducted in 1985

      Jeff Bregel (T, 1963–1965), inducted in 1986

      Mike McKeever (G, 1958–1960), inducted in 1987

      Ron Yary (OT, 1965–1967), inducted in 1987

      Paul Cleary (End, 1946–1947), inducted in 1989

      Lynn Swann (WR, 1971–1973), inducted in 1993

      Marvin Powell (OT, 1974–1976), inducted in 1994

      Charles White (HB, 1976–1979), inducted in 1996

      Brad Budde (G, 1976–1979), inducted in 1998

      Marcus Allen (HB, 1978–1981), inducted in 2000

      Jon Arnett (HB, 1954–1956), inducted in 2001

      Ronnie Lott (S, 1977–1980), inducted in 2002

      Ricky Bell (RB, 1973–1976), inducted in 2003

      Charle Young (TE, 1970–1972), inducted in 2004

      Anthony Davis (RB, 1972–1974), inducted in 2005

      Richard Wood (LB, 1972–1974), inducted in 2007

      Sam Cunningham (FB, 1970–1972), inducted in 2010

      Tony Boselli (OT, 1991–1994), inducted in 2014

      Matt Leinart (QB, 2003–2005), inducted in 2017

      Troy Polamalu (S, 1999–2002), inducted in 2019

      Carson Palmer (QB, 1998–2002), inducted in 2021

      Reggie Bush (RB, 2003–2005), inducted in 2023

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      1. Wow, many Trojan names left off of that list. The gutties have John Sciarra and Cade McNown in the HOF. Go figure.

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      2. No Orville Mohler. QB for the USC national championship team. Howard Jones called him the best football player he ever coached. He was also student body President and shortstop for the baseball team. Ended up playing professional baseball for a few years before becoming a pilot and going into the aviation industry.

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      3. Notre Dame has 49…

        NamePositionYearsInductedGeorge

        “The Gipper” Gipp Halfback1917-1920 1951

        Elmer Layden Fullback1922-1924 1951

        Knute Rockne Coach1918-1930 1951

        Frank Carideo Quarterback1928-1930 1954

        Harry Stuhldreher Quarterback1922-1924 1958

        Johnny Lujack Quarterback1943, 1946-1947 1960

        George Connor Tackle1942-1943, 1946-1947 1963

        Jack Cannon Guard1927-19291965

        Jim Crowley Halfback1922-19241966

        Edgar “Rip” Miller Tackle1922-19241966

        Adam Walsh Center1922-1924 1968

        Frank Leahy Coach1939-1953 1970

        Don Miller Halfback1922-1924 1970

        Jesse Harper Coach1906-1917 1971

        Louis “Red” Salmon Fullback1900-1903 1971

        Angelo Bertelli Quarterback1941-1943 1972

        Ray Eichenlaub Fullback1911-1914 1972

        Leon Hart End1946-1949 1973

        Hunk Anderson Guard1918-1921 1974

        Marchy Schwartz Halfback1929-1931 1974

        John Smith Guard1925-1927 1975

        Creighton Miller Halfback1941-1943 1976

        Zygmont Czarobski Tackle1942-1943, 1946-1947 1977

        Frank Hoffmann Guard1930-19311978

        Johnny Lattner Halfback1951-1953 1979

        Ara Parseghian Coach1951-1974 1980

        Bert Metzger Guard1928-1930 1982

        Bill “Moose” Fischer Tackle / Guard1945-1948 1983

        William Shakespeare Halfback1933-1935 1983

        Red Sitko Halfback / Fullback1946-1949 1984

        Dan Devine Coach1955-1980 1985

        Paul Hornung Quarterback1954-1956 1985

        Fred Miller Tackle1926-1928 1985

        Tommy Yarr Center1929-1931 1987

        Bob Williams Quarterback1948-1950 1988

        Wayne Millner End1933-1935 1990

        Jim Lynch Linebacker1964-1966 1992

        Alan Page Defensive End1964-1966 1993

        Jerry Groom Center1948-1950 1994

        Jim Martin End / Tackle1946-1949 1995

        Ken MacAfee Tight End1974-1977 1997

        Ross Browner Defensive End1973, 1975-1977 1999

        Bob Dove End1940-1942 2000

        Ralph Guglielmi Quarterback1951- 1951-1954 2001

        Joe Theismann Quarterback1968-1970 2003

        John Huarte Quarterback1962-1964 2005

        Chris Zorich Defensive Tackle1987-1991 2007

        Lou Holtz Head Coach1986-1996 2008

        Tim Brown Wide Receiver1984-1987 2009

        Dave Casper Tight End1970-1973 2012

        Thom Gatewood Wide Receiver1968-1971 2015

        Bob Crable Linebacker1978-1982 2017

        Raghib “Rocket” Ismail Wide Receiver1988-1990 2019

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  7. Where have you gone Tamara Hughes Gustavson, our Trojan nation turns its lonely eyes to you
    Woo, woo, wolf

    Just a simple note from Tamara to Jen: “If you drop the ND game, you will never receive another donation from my family.”

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  8. To repeat, Wiley realizes that to get into the National Championship 12-team tournament, Notre Dame poses problems. Wiles might argue “Would you rather view an SC-ND game or see the Trojans playing in the Tournament?”

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