The Fighting Irish began the season with back-to-back losses to South Florida (23-20) and Michigan (35-31) to put an end to any national title hopes, but since then they've rattled off consecutive victories over Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, and Air Force.

Against Air Force last week the Fighting Irish grabbed a 59-33 win at home thanks to a four-touchdown performance from Tommy Rees. The quarterback completed 23 of his 32 pass attempts for 261 yards in that contest with no interceptions.

Andrew Hendrix ran for 111 yards on six carries for Notre Dame in that win, while Jonas Gray rushed for 69 yards and two scores on the day. Theo Riddick, Tyler Eifert, Michael Floyd, and Robby Toma each had TD catches.

That win improved Notre Dame to 4-2 straight up and 3-3 against the college football odds on the season, and they're listed as 8.5-point favorites for Saturday's game against the Trojans (5-1 straight up, 3-3 against the spread).

USC's only loss of the season came three weeks ago at Arizona State; since then they've beaten Arizona 48-41 at home and California 30-9 on the road.

Matt Barkley was good on 19 of 35 pass attempts for 195 yards for USC against the Golden Bears, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Curtis McNeal rushed for 86 yards and a score, and Marqise Lee and Brandon Carswell had TD catches.

When Notre Dame and USC met last season the Fighting Irish won 20-16 as a 5-point underdog on the road. Overall, though, Notre Dame is just 2-8 overall and 4-6 against the spread in its last 10 games against the Trojans.

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