Familiar second-half struggles sink USC in loss to No. 3 Notre Dame

Give the first-half Trojans credit for making this one exciting -- even nationally interesting -- for a while against No. 3 Notre Dame.

But as usual, the second-half Trojans did USC in Saturday night.

That's the way it's gone this fall, the first losing season for this proud program since 2000.

USC again faltered after halftime as a 10-point lead dissipated into a 24-17 loss to the undefeated Fighting Irish, who moved to 12-0 while sustaining their College Football Playoff hopes.

More to the point for the Trojans (5-7), they had scored a grand total of 3 points in the second halves combined over the last three games before finding the end zone with 48 seconds left to play Saturday. It was too late, though.

That offensive swoon and a 52-yard third-quarter Dexter Williams touchdown run for Notre Dame proved to be the difference.

"Really tough because we were in it and we were moving the ball really well ... Again, penalties, turnovers, just stuff like that stopped us from scoring," left guard Chris Brown said. "You've seen it so many times in the games we've played in the past, we've had really good drives, we're moving the ball and then penalty, bad snap, something like that, fumble and it ruins the momentum and we don't score."

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There indeed was real tension earlier, at least the foundation of a potential upset. The Trojans -- 11-point underdogs -- had the USC contingent inside the Coliseum loud and into the game in the first half as they built an early 10-0 lead.

They took the opening kickoff and went 78 yards in 8 plays for an impressive touchdown drive, effectively utilizing a quick passing attack to move down the field before Vavae Malepeai rushed in from 14 yards for the score.

The Trojans were on the move in Notre Dame territory on their second drive too, but wide receiver Michael Pittman fumbled at the 33-yard line after a 10-yard gain. The USC defense was locked in early, though, and responded with a quick three-and-out -- the defensive line looking as aggressive and formidable as it had in quite some time.

USC then took its third possession all the way to the Fighting Irish's 12-yard line before settling for a 30-yard Michael Brown field goal and a 10-0 lead.

Who could have seen this coming?

Unfortunately for the hosts, what came the rest of the way was not as stunning.

"We was confident throughout the whole game. They made a few more plays and we just came up short," safety Ajene Harris summarized afterward.

Notre Dame got on the board when it converted a third-and-10, third-and-11 and third-and-8 later in the second quarter, setting up a beautiful 24-yard touchdown pass from Ian Book to Chris Finke in the front left corner of the end zone.

The struggles on third-and-long have been an Achilles heel for the USC defense all season -- while for the offense it's been missed opportunities to seize or maintain control of a game.

Like when quarterback JT Daniels hit Amon-Ra St. Brown for a 14-yard pickup down to the Notre Dame 15 on the next series, only to have St. Brown fumble away the ball for a gut-punching turnover.

The Trojans wouldn't truly threaten to score again -- starting the second half with five straight punts -- until Daniels' late 20-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Vaughns in the final minute. The forthcoming onside kick was recovered by Notre Dame, which then ran out the clock.

After racking up 289 yards in the first half, they finished with 443 (with 60 of those coming on that final possession down 14).

"It really came down to loose balls. I let one go, Amon-Ra let one go, and I feel like that was the difference in this game," Pittman said.

Meanwhile, early in the third quarter, Williams broke free through the left side for that go-ahead 52-yard touchdown run to give Notre Dame a 14-10 lead. A 46-yard Justin Yoon field goal made it 17-10 later in the period.

There was one more moment of significance for the Trojans, as walk-on freshman safety Jordan McMillan -- forced into action as the third safety Saturday night -- intercepted Book in the end zone midway through the fourth quarter.

USC couldn't build off that momentum, though. Daniels was sacked twice on the ensuing possession, forcing a quick three-and-out, and Notre Dame stretched out its lead on a 51-yard catch-and-run touchdown from Book to Tony Jones Jr. to make it 24-10.

Daniels finished 37-of-51 passing for a season-high 349 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions. Vaughns had 12 catches for 120 yards and a touchdown while St. Brown had 10 catches for 94 yards and Pittman had 7 catches for 91 yards.

Book was 22 of 39 for 352 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception for Notre Dame.

The well-represented Fighting Irish fans cheered their team off the field when it was all over, making their presence felt.

Just as the frustrated segment of USC's fan base made its presence felt before the game with a plane pulling a sign asking athletic director Lynn Swann to fire coach Clay Helton.

The players didn't take well to that with Daniels calling it "stupid" and Brown taking it even further.

"It does kind of piss me off and it pisses everyone else off," he said. "It's kind of a lack of respect. Like fans want us to play for them and a lot of them are saying really negative stuff, it's kind of hard to get that."

Brown also acknowledged this wasn't the season neither the fans nor the players expected.

"I definitely wish the season went better. I know we had a lot more potential," he said.

As USC season officially ends, all attention turns to the status of Helton and whether or not Swann decides a change is needed. In brief comments after the game, Swann indicated a plan is in place and will be announced soon, while Helton continued to sound confident he'll return.

"The best is yet to be -- I truly believe that," he said. "... USC is about championships. It deserves championships and we did not do that. Just fact of the matter this year, we didn't get the job done. It doesn't mean that we can't. I know and believe in the guys that are in that locker room that we're going to go back and create a disciplined football team that executes at the highest level.

"We can compete with anybody in the country with the men that are in that locker room as evidenced [by] tonight. It will be my job and my task moving forward to be able to get us to execute, be disciplined and win championships. That's what's deserved -- that's what's expected and that's what's deserved. So is it frustrating? Yes. I think we're all frustrated -- 5-7 is not what USC is about. Losing close ball games is not what we're about, and it will be my task moving forward to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Helton's future has been the narrative all week, but the Trojans did provide a nice distraction in the first half Saturday night.

Unfortunately, yet again, they couldn't sustain it.