One of college football’s most storied rivalries, USC vs Notre Dame, will add a new chapter this weekend, as the Trojans and the Fighting Irish are set to play under the lights on Oct. 23 from South Bend, Ind.
USC and Notre Dame have played almost every year since 1926 (four exceptions, including in 2020), with Notre Dame holding the edge in the all-time series. Past great games featuring the two schools include monumental comebacks by USC in 1974 and then Notre Dame in 1999, as well as the infamous “Bush Push” in 2005. Notre Dame is currently on a three-game winning streak in the series.
Kickoff for USC vs Notre Dame is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET, and fans of either team will have multiple options to watch all the action. Read on to find out how and get a quick preview of the matchup.
USC vs Notre Dame matchup preview
At first glance, Notre Dame seems to be the obvious pick in the game as they enter the matchup with a record of 5-1 and ranked as the No. 13 team in the country, while USC is 3-3, alternating between a win and a loss each week of its season so far. They are coming off of a loss, so will that trend continue and see the Trojans pull off the upset in South Bend?
USC has been struggling as a program in recent years, unable to reach the heights they had in the mid-2000s when Pete Carroll was their coach. In fact, this season has already seen their most recent head coach, Clay Helton, fired after two games; Donte Williams is serving as the Trojan’s interim head coach.
As far as the players go, there is talent on the USC roster — running back Keaontay Ingram is averaging 5.7 yards per carry so far this season and wide receiver Drake London has 64 catches, 832 receiving yards and five touchdowns in six games. However, quarterback Kedon Slovis has been a bit up and down this season, throwing nine touchdowns but also five interceptions. The defense has also been nothing special really, ranking 70th in the entire country.
Despite the 5-1 record and high ranking, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for Notre Dame so far this season either. After closer-than-expected games against Florida State and Toledo the first two weeks of the year, the Fighting Irish suffered their first loss of the season at home to Cincinnati (now the No. 2-ranked team in the country) and most recently squeaked by Virginia Tech on the road.
Notre Dame has been having its own quarterback issues, at times rotating between the trio of Jack Coan, Drew Pyne and Tyler Buchner in games. Coan, who is slated to get the start against USC, has thrown 10 touchdowns to just three interceptions, but he has only thrown for 1,208 yards in six games. The Fighting Irish also came into the season with an expected solid running game, but star back Kyren Williams only has 370 yards this season and a 3.9 yards per carry average.
It’s fallen on the defense to make big plays, which in crucial moments they have. The overall statistical picture isn’t fantastic (they are the 55th ranked defense in the country), but they’ve had some standouts in linebacker JD Bertrand who leads the team with 58 total tackles, safety Kyle Hamilton who’s snagged three picks and defensive lineman Isiah Foskey who has 5.5 sacks on the season.
The oddsmakers have made Notre Dame 6.5 home favorites for the game.
How to watch USC vs Notre Dame in the U.S.
Since 1991, NBC has been the broadcaster for Notre Dame home games, so the peacock network will once again be the place to watch this year’s arrival of USC in South Bend on Oct. 23 at 7:30 pm. ET. NBC is also making Notre Dame games available for consumers to stream for each game it carries this season via its own Peacock streaming app.
First, if you have a traditional cable/satellite pay-TV subscription you will be able to watch the game live on your TV through your local NBC station (check local listings for what channel). Fans can also watch the game through their local NBC station is they subscribe to a live TV streaming service that carries NBC stations, including Fubo TV, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV. Those using a TV antenna can also pick up their local NBC station’s signal to watch the game.
Not going to be in front of a TV for the game? Subscribers to a cable/satellite or live TV streaming service can use their login credentials to watch coverage of the game through the NBC Sports app and website.
If you’re looking to stream the USC vs Notre Dame game, you will need a subscription to Peacock Premium. While there is a free version of Peacock, it does not provide live coverage of sporting events. For that you will need to be a subscriber to either the $4.99 per month (ad-supported) or $9.99 per month (ad-free) plan of Peacock Premium. With a subscription to Peacock Premium, you will be able to watch the USC vs Notre Dame game through the Peacock app on a TV (select smart TVs, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV), gaming console or through the Peacock website on a computer.
How to watch USC vs Notre Dame from anywhere in the world
Notre Dame (and to an extent USC) is an internationally recognized program, with fans and alumni all over the world. So how can those fans watch the game even though they don’t have direct access to NBC or Peacock? With a VPN, or virtual private network.
A VPN is designed to route network traffic through a specific set of servers in a specific country, allowing viewers to watch content on an encrypted feed over a computer.
