"Notre Dame has zero margin of error": Desmond Howard reveals what's at stake for Marcus Freeman ahead of iconic USC vs ND game

In what could be a finale to the iconic rivalry of decades, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will play the USC Trojans for one last time at South Bend. Expectations are high for both sides since they are looking to earn a playoff spot, with Notre Dame being a desperate contender following two early losses in the season.

According to college football analyst Desmond Howard, this is a must-win game for head coach Marcus Freeman if he wants to get back to the national championship game.

After this matchup, ND does not have any ranked opponents. Hence, a win over USC will boost their resume by the end of the season, provided they win all the upcoming matchups in a dominating way.

Howard also claimed there would be multiple teams with 10 wins and being an independent school, Freeman will have to take that extra mile to earn his spot.

“They lost two games. So at this point, Notre Dame has zero margin for error. Moving forward, they cannot lose to USC. Notre Dame's independent. They don't have a conference game to try to boost their resume with the CFP, so they have to beat USC,” Howard said on College GameDay.

NCAA Football: North Carolina State at Notre Dame - Source: Imagn

“They cut South Bend off with a quality win at home against Michigan. But if they're able to travel up to South Bend and knock off the Fighting Irish, we're starting to look at them a little bit differently, too. So there’s a lot at stake in USC versus Notre Dame,” he added.

Marcus Freeman opens up on playing USC for one last time

It is quite an emotional moment for both teams to be playing their 93rd matchup, a tradition that was started in 1926 and was never broken except for the 2020 season due to COVID. While speaking to Dan Patrick on Friday, Freeman mentioned that the USC vs. ND rivalry means a lot to him.

“I don’t know what it means to them, but I know it means a lot to us. It does. The rivalry, the quality of opponent and respect for the program mean a lot to this university and football program and we want to see it continue,” Freeman said, referring to the decisions that need to be taken by upper brass.

Games like these truly motivate coaches to aim for bigger goals. It is pretty clear Freeman would want to wrap up the game on a high note, especially when they are leading with an overall record of 50-37-5.

Edited by Deepesh Nair