For Notre Dame and USC, Misery Loves Company

Two of college football’s most storied programs have fallen on rough times this season. Notre Dame and USC stumble into their season-ending matchup in similar frames of mind. Both teams enter the season finale with identical 7-4 records, but both feel this season could’ve been so much more.

Notre Dame was just an offensive pass interference penalty away from defeating No. 3 Florida State on their home field. The Irish were ranked as high as No. 10 in the College Football Playoff rankings just three weeks ago, however, they have crashed and burned since that point. Three consecutive losses to Arizona State, Northwestern and Louisville leaves Notre Dame and head coach Brian Kelly desperately trying to find a win in Los Angeles.

For the Trojans, they share similar sentiments to Notre Dame’s season. The Trojans opened the Steve Sarkisian era with a convincing victory over Fresno State and a big victory at Stanford. However, USC laid an egg at Boston College as the Eagles ran the ball down the Trojans’ throat to the tune of 452 yards in a 37-31 victory.

The most gut-wrenching loss for USC came when Arizona State visited the Coliseum. The Trojans led throughout, but Arizona State’s Jaelen Strong snatched away victory from USC on a Hail Mary. The lasting image of the play is linebacker Hayes Pullard waiting for the ball to fall into his arms as Strong grabs the pass and waltzes into the end zone untouched.

The Trojans suffered another heartbreaker at Utah, giving up the game-winning touchdown pass with eight seconds to go. Their frustration was compounded this past weekend as UCLA dominated USC, giving the Bruins three consecutive victories over the Trojans and all by double-digits.

The Irish and Trojans have been forced to play many young players due to injuries in Notre Dame’s case and scholarship limitations in the case of USC. Realistically, each team could easily have only one or two losses, but instead enter the contest with four losses. There will be plenty of talent and offensive firepower on display, but the luster from this game has been tarnished by the recent disappointments.

Notre Dame and USC are even down in the minds of TV executives, which, for two football programs that draw plenty of eyes, is saying something. The teams will square off at 12:30 p.m. PST at the Coliseum, marking the first time since 2000 that the teams won’t play at night when the Irish visit the Trojans. Typically, this game has been in primetime with high stakes, but that’s not the case this year.

The only positive heading into the matchup is Notre Dame and USC have this rivalry game to close it out. The Irish and Trojans can salvage some pride with a season ending victory and sending the loser into the bowl season in a tailspin.

Misery always loves company, and in the case of these bitter rivals, at least they have each other.

Patrick Leiva is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter and add him to your network on Google.