USC
3-3
Notre Dame
6-1
Team Stats
USC 7, ND 0
USC - Kessler, Cody 3 yd run (Wood, Alex kick), 8 plays, 71 yards, TOP 3:07
USC 7, ND 7
ND - FULLER, Will 75 yd pass from KIZER, DeShone (YOON, Justin kick) 1 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:15
USC 10, ND 7
USC - Wood, Alex 42 yd field goal 7 plays, 29 yards, TOP 2:52
USC 10, ND 14
ND - PROSISE, C.J. 25 yd run (YOON, Justin kick), 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:26
USC 10, ND 21
ND - CARLISLE, Amir 5 yd blocked punt return (YOON, Justin kick)
USC 10, ND 24
ND - YOON, Justin 32 yd field goal 9 plays, 28 yards, TOP 3:30
USC 17, ND 24
USC - Smith-Schuster 75 yd pass from Greene, Jalen (Wood, Alex kick) 1 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:18
USC 24, ND 24
USC - Jackson, Adoree 83 yd pass from Kessler, Cody (Wood, Alex kick) 2 plays, 84 yards, TOP 0:47
USC 31, ND 24
USC - McNamara, Taylo 4 yd pass from Kessler, Cody (Wood, Alex kick) 5 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:35
USC 31, ND 31
ND - PROSISE, C.J. 6 yd run (YOON, Justin kick), 9 plays, 90 yards, TOP 3:00
USC 31, ND 38
ND - ROBINSON, Corey 10 yd pass from KIZER, DeShone (YOON, Justin kick) 7 plays, 91 yards, TOP 3:15
USC 31, ND 41
ND - YOON, Justin 32 yd field goal 5 plays, 52 yards, TOP 2:39
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Trojans Fall To No. 14 Notre Dame, 41-31
October 17, 2015 | Football
Final Stats | USATSI Photo Gallery 
| Final Statistics (PDF) 
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) Notre Dame showed the mental toughness against Southern California it was sorely lacking in an embarrassing 35-point loss last season.
The No. 14 Fighting Irish rallied for 17 points in the fourth quarter after blowing a two-touchdown lead, and took the lead on Corey Robinson's diving catch with 9:06 left in a 41-31 victory Saturday night.
''Our theme all week was the mental toughness that we wanted to exhibit today, it was the one question we wanted to answer,'' Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. ''I didn't see anything on the sideline that resembled our guys not believing they were going to come back.''
C.J. Prosise ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns, and DeShone Kizer threw two scoring passes, the second the 10-yarder to Robinson that made it 38-31. It was the first touchdown of the season for Robinson, who dropped several passes in the loss at Clemson.
''I just had to step up when my number was called. Thank God I was able to step up for this team and contribute to our success,'' Robinson said.
The Irish (6-1) also added a touchdown by former USC player Amir Carlisle on a blocked punt.
Southern California played for the first time since Clay Helton took over as head coach.
''We had great momentum going into the second half. And then, at the end of the day, mistakes hurt us, whether it was penalties, special teams, some missed tackles and some turnovers on offense,'' Helton said. ''You can't have those mistakes.''
DeShone Kizer, who was 15 of 24 for 227 yards, said it was a big win for the Irish.
''It's huge. To come out here and get a signature win like that against USC is big for us and for the season moving forward,'' he said.
The victory looked in doubt when the Trojans (3-3) scored three straight touchdowns to take a 31-24 lead as the Trojans scored on a 75-yard catch by JuJu Smith-Schuster and Adoree Jackson scored on an 83-yard pass. But the Irish rallied to win the Jeweled Shillelagh for the third time in four seasons.
''If you miss a tackle, those kids are gone,'' Kelly said. ''They make you pay dearly, and we missed some tackles.''
It marked the first time in seven tries the Irish beat the Trojans after losing by 30 or more the season before.
Cody Kessler threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score for USC, but the Irish picked him off two passes in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
''It's tough when you play a very good football team like that, and these guys have had so much this week and dealt with everything you could possibly think of, and I'm so proud of them,'' Kessler said. ''They put everything they had into that game. No one gave us a fighting chance and these guys came out and showed they had heart and were competitive, but at the end of the day there were too many mistakes.''
