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USC Morning Buzz: In Crunch Time, Voices Went Silent

When it was announced USC and Notre Dame would suspend their series yesterday, it was one of those moments when you really see what some people are made of.

For example, the fanboy USC media, who generally have something to say about every development, were mostly silent. One had as much to say about Sherrone Moore as USC-Notre Dame.

That’s what happens when you are perpetually petrified of offending anyone in the upper echelons of power at USC.

Has anyone heard from Matt Leinart? The most famous moment of his career was the Bush Push and he is a high-profile analyst at Fox. But there were only crickets. He remains closely tied to the athletic dept. and that might have explained his silence.

What about Reggie Bush? Nothing.

Then there was Bill Plaschke of the L.A. Times, who offered a full-throated defense of USC.

“If the Trojans truly want to return to greatness, being selected for the CFP is the goal. Not beating Notre Dame. Not even beating UCLA. It’s all about the tournament.”

So reaching the College Football Playoff and losing in the first round is more important than playing Notre Dame (and maybe even beating them) and beating UCLA?

Basically nothing matters anymore. What a totally out of touch viewpoint.

49 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: In Crunch Time, Voices Went Silent”

    1. Petros was extremely critical of the decision.

      There is of course no going back, but I miss the days in which the Rose Bowl was the Pac Conference vs the Big 10, the Cotton Bowl was the Southwest vs a top team, the Orange Bowl was Big 8 vs ACC, and the Sugar was the SEC vs a top team, and all of those were on Dec 31-Jan 1.

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      1. I COMPLETELY understand the feelings that are being stirred up by the announcement that Notre Dame/USC is over. But let’s face it: Each year, from now on, will be its own universe in college football. In the past, there have been years when —due to a poor team on one side or the other, or a poor coach on one side or the other, or injuries—the only thing going for The Rivalry was the “rivalry” aspect itself. I think there was even one non-momentous game where Kessler threw 6 touchdowns against a miserable Notre Dame team. The point being: next year the football universe revolves around the playoffs, not Notre Dame. Let’s enjoy the season for what it will be, not what it won’t be.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. KAM: Being that you are a Bruin, Brain dead vile antisemitic and racist Board Pest Board Cancer Cowardly Gabby aka Sparrow Calypso aka TebowObama aka Charlie Bucket the UCLA Fan aka The Guy who posts as Buddhakarma & So Cal’s Wife & Michael Guarino & Trojan RJJ & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse and TrojanFan 1-3 & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young and KATHY and Foreskin Thoughts and SCOTTLOVESTHEROOOOOTTÞ and Manureman and eric  and Smacky, you can’t comprehend that the Notre Dame-USC rivalry was going for 80 years before the Bush Push.

        DON: UCLA has zero going for it the last 71 years.

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    1. YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU, GEORGE —– I TRULY DO —- BUT NEXT YEAR WILL BE ABOUT OHIO STATE, WASHINGTON, INDIANA, OREGON AND PENN STATE…..NOT NOTRE DAME [UNLESS WE SEE THEM IN THE PLAYOFFS]…..

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      2. KAM: None of those games compare to USC -ND.

        DON; Something special has been lost forever as college football marches towards becoming the NFL minor league.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. I have this hunch that –if USC wins the National Championship by concentrating on their tough Big Ten schedule— it will be remembered as “Something Special”…..

        Liked by 1 person

      4. KAM: USC used to win Pac 8 and Pac12 league titles, national titles AND throttle the Irish. We feared no one.

        DON: Under Riley Coyote USC has shriveled up and become just another college football program like Rutgers or San Diego State with no tradition and no championships. We fear other teams now.

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  5. SC has done more harm to college football including itself in the post Sample/Garrett era than any entity, including the media companies. Heartbreaking but this is the road SC has long been going down, and it’s no accident.

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    1. The real “biggest harm” USC has done [and, you’re right, it’s not an accident] is: assembling a Marxist Law Center, A Marxist School of Journalism and a Marxist Liberal Arts Program.

      #TheEffectsOfThese’Changes’WillLongOutlastBraindeadFolt

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  6. This move hurts ND more than USC. ND needs at least 3 or 4 marque games to generate interest in the program and T.V. revenue and swapping USC for BYU won’t generate the necessary interest or revenue. Neither will playing the service academies, Stanford, and Pittsburgh. This will eventually hurt their television contracts and recruiting and the ability to raise NIL.

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    1. Bear Bachmeier was a freshman this year. BYU will probably be ranked as high or higher than USC. Yeah, not as glitzy as a USC matchup. But in terms of SOS, I don’t think it hurts them as much as our ND replacement will hurt us.

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    2. 100%! The move to the Big Ten has benefitted USC in recruiting. Getting to the Big Ten Championship, the playoffs and beyond will benefit USC in recruiting even more. Notre Dame has nothing going forward….

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      2. KAM: No it hasn’t. Look at our rankings since the move.

        DON: We were 17th and 13th in recruiting the first two years in the Big Ten and this year isan anomaly because we took 37 players. Oregon had more 5 star recruits.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Point being: The Number One Class is…the Number One Class. And it will help us win …and that will further propel recruiting.

        #WeDon’tNeedNotreDame

        #Today’sRecruitsDon’tCareAboutThatGame…

        #TheyCareAboutThePlayoffs

        Liked by 2 people

      4. :KAM: It only helps if Riley Coyote gets them to stay more than a year or two…

        DON: And we have coaches who can develop talent. So far Riley Coyote cant’s seem to do either.

        Liked by 1 person

    3. Plow,

      So who do we root for with the Breed Em Young and the Pagans of nd when they play? I being a Catholic can’t stand nd’s team and I can’t root for Breed Em Young. maybe the ground will just open up and swallow both teams.

      Liked by 3 people

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  10. I love the rivalry. Had a good friend who graduated from ND and for 25 years we’ve been sh*t talking about the game and even went to South Bend together to watch a game. ND gets in the playoffs if they are ranked above 12 so they can play 12 high school-quality teams and be undefeated and get in because they get to do their own scheduling. USC can only get in by winning the Big10 or if they only have 1 or 2 losses. And losses at the beginning of the year are forgiven moreso than at the end so let’s play at the beginning of the season. Yes, USC fans want them to keep playing, but we’re if we’re the only one in the B10 playing real nonconference games at the end of the season, we’re hurting ourselves. Even teams that rarely lose don’t play real nonconference games late. Alabama played Eastern IL at the end of Nov 2025, Mercer in Nov 2024. TN-Chattanooga in Nov 2023. Ohio State didn’t in 2025, 2024 or 2023. Yes, “tradition” is important in Fiddler on the Roof, but I’d rather get in the tournament to win championships.

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  11. DON: But what if SC beats Ohio St next year, won’t that be a big deal?

    KAM: I suppose so, but right now I am still processing this SC-ND loss because I grew up with this game

    Liked by 1 person

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  12. The point Plaschke made is the biggest detriment of the playoffs. Basically it’s all that matters. This was an expected result of the playoffs. Going that route basically destroyed college football as we know it. The sport has been and will continue to be different – just like all the others – and that’s a damn shame. The termination of the USC-ND rivalry is just another example.

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  13. USC sucks for using politics to avoid playing Notre Dame, especially since Riley will have his best team next year and best chance to win a championship, either the Big Ten or the National Championship.

    Notre Dame sucks for trying to play the system like a Figueroa hoe and being able to pimp a game against USC while forcing the blue hairs to “guarantee” a spot in case of a loss.

    Liked by 1 person

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  14. Hey, Riley! I’ll bet Cerritos and MTSAC have open dates on their schedules. Since all you’re looking for are W’s, you may as well.

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  15. What’s truly galling is that Riley has successfully poisoned the athletic department with his “southern” mentality of convenient oppportunism while avoiding media scrutiny and Jen Cohen using Riley’s impending failure as an excuse to lure Kalen DeBoer back to the West Coast. Kalen can get away with murder if he replaces Riley.

    Meanwhile, if your Marcus Freeman, if the NFL wants you, you gotta take the Cleveland job or even the New York Giants job. It beats trying to wake up the echoes if you keep being frozen out of the playoffs.

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