‘We can go shock the world.’ Decimated USC running backs believe they can still thrive …
Lincoln Riley congratulates King Miller after he scored vs MICH Saturday at the Coliseum. Riley and his staff are preparing a depleted group of RBs to face Notre Dame Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi/LAT)
USC lost its top two running backs Waymond Jordan and Eli Sanders both suffered injuries against Michigan.
The Trojans turned to walk-on King Miller, who delivered a breakout performance during a win.
A closer look at USC’s depleted running backs unit offers some insight into how the Trojans will proceed.
Ryan Kartje (LA Times) / Haley Sawyer (OC Register) — His top two running backs had just been carted up the Coliseum tunnel, a nightmare scenario for a team that finally found its groove on the ground, when coach Lincoln Riley was asked at halftime how USC would move forward without the bulk of its backfield. He grinned.
“I might have to carry the ball some,” Riley quipped during NBC’s broadcast.
USC managed to make it through a win over Michigan without much in the way of reinforcements at running back. But with its backfield depth decimated — and the toughest stretch of the Trojans schedule ahead — Riley and his staff will have to figure out how proceed starting Saturday at Notre Dame.
USC will be without leading rusher Waymond Jordan for at least a month after he injured his ankle during the second quarter Saturday. Jordan, who’s currently third in the Big Ten in rushing, underwent surgery on Monday and is expected to miss four to six weeks.
RB Waymond Jordan is tackled by MICH LB Ernest Hausmann Saturday. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP)
That timeline, if it holds, would put Jordan on path for a potential return before the Trojans’ critical trip to Oregon, when they would presumably need him most.
The prognosis was less positive for senior Eli Sanders, who was third on USC’s offense in all-purpose yards when he left Saturday’s win early in the first quarter with a knee injury. Sanders, who transferred to USC from New Mexico in the offseason, was ruled out for the season on Monday after just six games.
Behind Jordan and Sanders, USC was on its way to the school’s best rushing season in two decades, since Reggie Bush and LenDale White last roamed its backfield. As it stands, at the midway mark of this season, USC is on pace to rush for nearly 3,000 yards and 40 touchdowns. (Granted, that’s still 10 scores behind 2005’s duo of Thunder and Lightning.)
In their place, redshirt freshman walk-on King Miller stepped seamlessly into a leading role Saturday, rushing for 158 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries against Michigan. But without anyone to spell him, he clearly started to run out of gas.
The situation was so dire that USC broke conference rules (and was fined $5,000) to suit up sophomore running back Bryan Jackson at halftime despite ruling him “out” before the game. Jackson rushed for 35 yards and a touchdown, all in the fourth quarter.
Assuming Jackson is healthy, the two backs are likely to share the load for USC Saturday against the Irish, who have clamped down in recent weeks against the run.
North Carolina State had just 51 yards on 28 carries in a loss to Notre Dame last Saturday, while Boise State was unable to crack three yards per carry during a three-touchdown loss the previous week.
Jackson, at least, has some experience, having seen action in all 13 games as a freshman last season. When USC was without its top two backs for the Las Vegas Bowl in December, Jackson stepped in to carry the ball 16 times for 66 yards and a touchdown. The brief stint was impressive enough he was named to the Doak Walker Award watch list before this season.
USC RB King Miller sprints away vs MICH. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP)
The sophomore brings a decidedly different style to USC’s rushing attack than Jordan or Sanders. At 235 pounds, he packs a much more powerful punch.
“My mindset being a running back is never let the first guy get you to the ground,” Jackson said in August. “I know people like the home run plays and the big runs. But sometimes it gets dirty. I feel like that’s my biggest mindset. You’re the guy that’s going to get the tough yards when your team needs you the most. You’re the one who can push us forward. That’s just my mindset whenever the ball gets in my hands.”
“Juice, energy, that grit, that toughness,” Jayden Maiava said of what Jackson brings to the offense. “That unity, the sacrifice. Everything that we’re sacrificing off the field just to come out here and play with each other.”
Miller has had the home runs covered so far in his first season at USC. He rushed for a 75-yard touchdown in Week 1 and a 41-yard touchdown in Week 2. Against Michigan, he ripped off runs of 49 and 47 yards.
“He pops a big run every day,” Riley said earlier this season. “It’s just what he does.”
“I just want to keep like moving forward,” Miller told reporters on Tuesday. “I always have things I can improve on just looking back from the game, but honestly, I think it’s just playing more – just continue going out there and just following what I see. I think everything else will work out from there.”
The rest of USC’s running backs have not faced serious tests.
The Trojans’ two other two scholarship running backs, freshmen Harry Dalton and Riley Wormley, were recovering from injuries during Saturday’s game.
USC RB Bryan Jackson runs for a 29-yd TD Saturday to put MICH away. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP)
Dalton carried the ball three times during the Trojans’ Week 2 win over Georgia Southern, but hasn’t been heard from since. Wormley has been out since last September, when he suffered a season-ending knee injury as a high school senior.
Dalton is likely the next man up after Miller. A standout of USC’s preseason camp, Dalton was a high school quarterback in Virginia at this time last year. He could still participate in three more games as a freshman before losing his right to redshirt.
Desperate times could call for desperate measures in USC’s backfield. But that’s not the message that running backs coach Anthony Jones has sent to his group.
“He always preaches to us, ‘Whatever we want, we can do,’” Miller said. “The whole room is amazing. No matter who you put in there, we always believe that we can go shock the world.”
COMPETITION REMAINS HIGH ON O-LINE
The Trojans’ offensive line saw virtually no drop-off in performance despite having a new center against Michigan.
J’Onre Reed started at the position in his first game since playing at his previous school, Syracuse. USC rushed for 224 yards and Maiava passed for 265 yards with Reed snapping the ball, and the Trojans kept their quarterback clean with no sacks.
“He did a good job of getting the ball and he saw everything and made it made a made a call and then, if it needed to change, you could change it fast,” TobiasRaymond said of Reed. “He’s got some power to him. That’s one thing that we notice in the weight room – just squatting a lot of weight.”
USC has had to shuffle the offensive line this season and finally seems to have continuity. Raymond moved to left guard this season after DJ Wingfield was ruled ineligible for the season, and Justin Tauanuu has been starting at left tackle since Elijah Paige sustained an injury in Week 4 against Illinois.
It’s created a competitive environment within the group. USC’s original starting center, Kilian O’Connor, is expected to miss at least one more week due to a lower-body injury and, although he’s proven he’s a competent starter, his spot isn’t guaranteed.
“All of them are going to have to (earn their spot), some of the guys that have been out,” Riley said. “It’s the Wally Pipp. That’s the way the sport works.
“That’s the nature of the beast. You look at a lot of the great players throughout history, and just the ability to stay healthy – there is some luck to it, but there’s obviously a lot of skill to it, and a lot of the way you train and take care of your body. In this sport, it’s everything, because the opportunities are so limited, no matter who you are.”
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The 11/28/1970 USC vs Notre Dame Game was dubbed the “Mini-Mud Bowl”, played in a “torrential downpour” at the Coliseum.
Jim Murray described the field as a “sea of brown sludge”. Joe Theisman threw for a record 529 passing yards, a record which still stands. Meanwhile USC used the ground game.
Notre Dame was the favorite.
Final score: USC 38, Notre Dame 28.
If it’s raining on both sides of the field 10/18/2025, USC has a good shot. This Notre Dame team can be beat!
1970 was my freshman year at USC and this specific USC/ND game at the Coliseum is one of my all-time faves — a true rainy slop fest with a lot of brawling on the field, led by USC’s John Vella if I remember correctly.
Joe Theisman was fantastic that day, nearly unstoppable. But tough/turnover-minded USC, with Jimmy Jones and Clarence Davis leading the Trojans, was opportunistic and managed to upset the Irish and ruin their undefeated season hopes in a wild affair.
I remember watching that game at home and my Dad saying he regretted allowing the weather forecast to dictate his attendance. Felt like he let the team down.
Well, I think he did!😎 FTFO, Trojans! Beat the Irish!
Great……..no matter what I’am hitting the sack at midnight. Luckily I passed on tickets back in the summer due to health issues…….nothing like a cup of lukewarm coco that spills on your pants because your hands are trembling.
2026 CB Jayden Crowder (5-11, 165) flips to USC Rancho Santa Margarita Catholic (coached by Carson Palmer) three-star CB Jayden Crowder has had a stellar SR season so far, and it led to a flip in his commitment from CAL to USC. Blair Angulo (247Sports.com) — USC keeps on tacking onto the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class. CB Jayden Crowder, a longtime CAL commit, has announced his flip to the Trojans less than a week after landing the coveted offer from the local school. “The coaches were great to be around — they’re real, relatable, and get straight to the point,” Crowder… Read more »
It’s USC/ND week. And I always liked “The Iron Horse” Lou Gehrig better than The Babe …
1927 — left to right: STAN HC Glenn “Pop” Warner, Babe Ruth, ND HC Knute Rockne, sports agent Christy Walsh, Lou Gehrig, USC HC Howard Jones, and Yale coach Tad Jones
Here comes the rain and wind, 65% chance of severe weather predicted …
The weather for the highly anticipated USC vs. ND game on Saturday in South Bend is expected to have rain throughout the day (unseasonably warm at up to 75%) and into the evening, likely impacting the game. Winds are also expected to gust big, possibly 20 – 35 mph.
Anything can happen….maybe it will miss….but right now the chance of rain in South Bend for Saturday night is 100%…..per the weather channel.
Glad I’am not one of the players…..hopefully there will not be thunder that will delay the game for hours……nothing like sitting in a wet uniform.
As for wind……oh brother. It’s shaping up to be one of those games everyone remembers.
The 3.5 hour delay at Purdue was aggravating. Trojans came out sharp though. Several thousand of us waited it out in their bball arena watching UT-UGA on the big screen. If there’s a delay, hopefully their previous experience will help them.
DAVIS! DAVIS! DAVIS! DAVIS! DAVIS! DAVIS! 5-foot-9, 185 pound Irish Killer Anthony Davis scored eleven TDs and a two-point conversion in three years (’72, ’73, ’74) vs the Domers. “People come up to me wherever I am–Chicago, New York, wherever–and point and say, ‘Notre Dame.’ They don’t even say my name sometimes,” Davis said, “just, ‘Notre Dame.’ ” “Anthony Davis is the greatest I’ve ever seen on kickoff returns in college,” said ND coach Ara Parseghian. “We knew he was good, but we thought we could handle it.” At the start of that storied undefeated USC ‘72 season, AD’s focus… Read more »
Headline writers used to serve a critical role at newspapers, back when they were paper and every medium to large city had two or more papers that were in competition for sales.
Davis! (times six) was a classic headline after the ‘72 game.
The 10 best things I saw in college football recruiting over the weekend (Grace Raynor/The Athletic) 2. Back to that Duncanville-DeSoto game for a second. DeSoto may have lost, but we have to talk about two plays by the Eagles that will go down as some of the most memorable of the year. The first was this touchdown, which has more than 6 million views on social media. Four–star USC receiver commit Ethan “Boobie” Feaster split two defenders and came down with a Randy-Moss-esque catch in the back corner of the end zone for the score. But how about the throw? There’s… Read more »
Remember in the past when ND used to intentionally let the grass grow dangerously long to slow USC down. And then there was this: USC’s Desmond Reed severely injured his knee during a kick off return at Notre Dame Stadium twenty years ago, in 2005, because the grass was too long — a belief both USC coaches and players at the time acknowledged as a potential factor. Reed’s account: “I noticed that the ball was sailing in the wind so I had to back up. I turned to go backwards to catch the ball and my leg got caught in… Read more »
The Athletic on USC at ND Best potential chaos agent: No. 20 USC at No. 13 Notre Dame, 4:30 p.m. PT on NBC Steven Louis Goldstein — Time for the Jeweled Shillelagh. Notre Dame’s unique independent setup puts all of its games on chaos watch. The Fighting Irish are comfortably 4-0 versus unranked opponents (their last four matchups), but they’ve dropped two thrillers by a combined four points versus the ranked ones (Miami and Texas A&M in the first two weeks). USC is indeed ranked, rocking a No. 20 spot in the latest AP poll. That doesn’t guarantee any cuticle… Read more »
The Athletic has named Makai Lemon to its 1st team Midseason All-America team.
WR Makai Lemon, USC: Lemon’s elite route-running and yards-after-catch ability translate to inevitable impact every week. He’s the second-most productive pass catcher in the country, averaging 113.7 receiving yards per game.
S Bishop Fitzgerald has been named to the 2nd team.
You’ll be happy to know that Sports Illustrated named Fitzgerald to its 1st team. DB Bishop Fitzgerald, USC The Trojans have been dealing with fellow safety Kamari Ramsey being banged up but Fitzgerald has more than picked up the slack. He leads the country in interceptions and hauled in two picks to help beat Michigan in one of USC’s biggest wins since moving to the Big Ten. Other names of note, including two former USC players: DL Bear Alexander, Oregon — 2nd team defense RB Waymond Jordan, USC — 2nd team offense OL Emmanuel Pregnon, Oregon — 1st team offense… Read more »
Curt Cignetti, Indiana Agree to New 8-Year, $92.8M Contract Amid Penn State Rumors Scott Polacek (B/R) — Curt Cignetti isn’t going anywhere.
Amid rumors the Indiana head football coach could be a replacement for the fired James Franklin at Penn State, Cignetti and the Hoosiers agreed to an eight-year contract extension that will pay him an average annual value of $11.6 million.
The deal runs through the 2033 campaign and makes him the third-highest-paid coach in the country.
FanDuel has increased it’s point spread from 8.5 to 9.5 in favor of Notre Dame.
Josh Pate predicts that ND will win but that USC will cover the spread. “It looks like another one-possession loss where USC says, ‘We let another one get away.'”
Lincoln Riley congratulates King Miller after he scored vs MICH Saturday at the Coliseum. Riley and his staff are preparing a depleted group of RBs to face Notre Dame Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi/LAT) 
“I just want to keep like moving forward,” Miller told reporters on Tuesday. “I always have things I can improve on just looking back from the game, but honestly, I think it’s just playing more – just continue going out there and just following what I see. I think everything else will work out from there.”
The 11/28/1970 USC vs Notre Dame Game was dubbed the “Mini-Mud Bowl”, played in a “torrential downpour” at the Coliseum.
Jim Murray described the field as a “sea of brown sludge”. Joe Theisman threw for a record 529 passing yards, a record which still stands. Meanwhile USC used the ground game.
Notre Dame was the favorite.
Final score: USC 38, Notre Dame 28.
If it’s raining on both sides of the field 10/18/2025, USC has a good shot. This Notre Dame team can be beat!
No mud or tall grass at ND anymore. If the wind is down may be a lot of passing on both sides.
1970 was my freshman year at USC and this specific USC/ND game at the Coliseum is one of my all-time faves — a true rainy slop fest with a lot of brawling on the field, led by USC’s John Vella if I remember correctly.
Joe Theisman was fantastic that day, nearly unstoppable. But tough/turnover-minded USC, with Jimmy Jones and Clarence Davis leading the Trojans, was opportunistic and managed to upset the Irish and ruin their undefeated season hopes in a wild affair.
I remember watching that game at home and my Dad saying he regretted allowing the weather forecast to dictate his attendance. Felt like he let the team down.
Well, I think he did!😎 FTFO, Trojans! Beat the Irish!
5pm 41% precip, 7pm 64%, 9pm 73% chance of rain on Saturday in South Bend. Temps in the 60’s. May get wet but it isn’t going to snow thankfully.
LOL……..If the wind is blowing you might have preferred snow.
Looking like a thunderstorm delay to the start could happen. Then steady rain but decreasing wind. Could be a long night.
Great……..no matter what I’am hitting the sack at midnight. Luckily I passed on tickets back in the summer due to health issues…….nothing like a cup of lukewarm coco that spills on your pants because your hands are trembling.
2026 CB Jayden Crowder (5-11, 165) flips to USC Rancho Santa Margarita Catholic (coached by Carson Palmer) three-star CB Jayden Crowder has had a stellar SR season so far, and it led to a flip in his commitment from CAL to USC. Blair Angulo (247Sports.com) — USC keeps on tacking onto the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class. CB Jayden Crowder, a longtime CAL commit, has announced his flip to the Trojans less than a week after landing the coveted offer from the local school. “The coaches were great to be around — they’re real, relatable, and get straight to the point,” Crowder… Read more »
Cignetti signs a new deal……8 years for 11.6 million per year. Staying at Indiana.
He’ll probably retire there.
That’s Linkin money!
I read somewhere that Cignetti now has CFB’s third largest salary.
I wonder when LR will start talking with USC about an extension? Next season he’ll be half way through his original contract.
He shouldn’t open his mouth until he’s at the least won a couple of somethings, like B1G championships or NCs.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall listening to Jen Cohen communicate with LR’s agent after this season.
Riley is waiting for Anthony Rendon to conclude his negotiations for an extension.
It’s USC/ND week. And I always liked “The Iron Horse” Lou Gehrig better than The Babe …
1927 — left to right: STAN HC Glenn “Pop” Warner, Babe Ruth, ND HC Knute Rockne, sports agent Christy Walsh, Lou Gehrig, USC HC Howard Jones, and Yale coach Tad Jones
This is a classic!
Here comes the rain and wind, 65% chance of severe weather predicted …
The weather for the highly anticipated USC vs. ND game on Saturday in South Bend is expected to have rain throughout the day (unseasonably warm at up to 75%) and into the evening, likely impacting the game. Winds are also expected to gust big, possibly 20 – 35 mph.
Anything can happen….maybe it will miss….but right now the chance of rain in South Bend for Saturday night is 100%…..per the weather channel.
Glad I’am not one of the players…..hopefully there will not be thunder that will delay the game for hours……nothing like sitting in a wet uniform.
As for wind……oh brother. It’s shaping up to be one of those games everyone remembers.
Frankly, I always enjoyed playing in the rain. I’m more concerned with the wind which can obviously wipe out a passing attack.
This game could turn out to actually be the last of this insanely important rivalry, at least for now.
But now that USC is in the B1G, ND needs USC more than vice versa. JMHO.
If they can schedule Bama, Georgia, Texas or Oklahoma……ok……my fear they will schedule NE.SW Central NE Arkansas.
The 3.5 hour delay at Purdue was aggravating. Trojans came out sharp though. Several thousand of us waited it out in their bball arena watching UT-UGA on the big screen. If there’s a delay, hopefully their previous experience will help them.
DAVIS! DAVIS! DAVIS! DAVIS! DAVIS! DAVIS! 5-foot-9, 185 pound Irish Killer Anthony Davis scored eleven TDs and a two-point conversion in three years (’72, ’73, ’74) vs the Domers. “People come up to me wherever I am–Chicago, New York, wherever–and point and say, ‘Notre Dame.’ They don’t even say my name sometimes,” Davis said, “just, ‘Notre Dame.’ ” “Anthony Davis is the greatest I’ve ever seen on kickoff returns in college,” said ND coach Ara Parseghian. “We knew he was good, but we thought we could handle it.” At the start of that storied undefeated USC ‘72 season, AD’s focus… Read more »
Headline writers used to serve a critical role at newspapers, back when they were paper and every medium to large city had two or more papers that were in competition for sales.
Davis! (times six) was a classic headline after the ‘72 game.
That headline was definitely one of the best ever in the history of sports pages.
Thanks for showing that headline again, Allen! That was back when the Times Sports section was the best in the country, IMHO
The 10 best things I saw in college football recruiting over the weekend (Grace Raynor/The Athletic) 2. Back to that Duncanville-DeSoto game for a second. DeSoto may have lost, but we have to talk about two plays by the Eagles that will go down as some of the most memorable of the year. The first was this touchdown, which has more than 6 million views on social media. Four–star USC receiver commit Ethan “Boobie” Feaster split two defenders and came down with a Randy-Moss-esque catch in the back corner of the end zone for the score. But how about the throw? There’s… Read more »
Remember in the past when ND used to intentionally let the grass grow dangerously long to slow USC down. And then there was this: USC’s Desmond Reed severely injured his knee during a kick off return at Notre Dame Stadium twenty years ago, in 2005, because the grass was too long — a belief both USC coaches and players at the time acknowledged as a potential factor. Reed’s account: “I noticed that the ball was sailing in the wind so I had to back up. I turned to go backwards to catch the ball and my leg got caught in… Read more »
The Athletic on USC at ND Best potential chaos agent: No. 20 USC at No. 13 Notre Dame, 4:30 p.m. PT on NBC Steven Louis Goldstein — Time for the Jeweled Shillelagh. Notre Dame’s unique independent setup puts all of its games on chaos watch. The Fighting Irish are comfortably 4-0 versus unranked opponents (their last four matchups), but they’ve dropped two thrillers by a combined four points versus the ranked ones (Miami and Texas A&M in the first two weeks). USC is indeed ranked, rocking a No. 20 spot in the latest AP poll. That doesn’t guarantee any cuticle… Read more »
The Athletic has named Makai Lemon to its 1st team Midseason All-America team.
WR Makai Lemon, USC: Lemon’s elite route-running and yards-after-catch ability translate to inevitable impact every week. He’s the second-most productive pass catcher in the country, averaging 113.7 receiving yards per game.
S Bishop Fitzgerald has been named to the 2nd team.
50 total players were chosen.
nytimes.com
Wow, Fitz leads the nation in interceptions and gets 2nd team.
You’ll be happy to know that Sports Illustrated named Fitzgerald to its 1st team. DB Bishop Fitzgerald, USC The Trojans have been dealing with fellow safety Kamari Ramsey being banged up but Fitzgerald has more than picked up the slack. He leads the country in interceptions and hauled in two picks to help beat Michigan in one of USC’s biggest wins since moving to the Big Ten. Other names of note, including two former USC players: DL Bear Alexander, Oregon — 2nd team defense RB Waymond Jordan, USC — 2nd team offense OL Emmanuel Pregnon, Oregon — 1st team offense… Read more »
Inside College Football picks
Aaron Taylor — ND
Brian Jones — USC
Randy Cross — ND
Rick Neuheisel — USC
Could D’Anton Lynn end up at PSU?
Brian Jones (CBS Sports Networks’ Inside College Football) has picked D’Anton Lynn, who played at PSU, to be the next head coach of the Nittany Lions.
The other most frequently mentioned names include Matt Rhule and Mike Elko.
Most seem to believe that Curt Cignetti will get a nice big raise to stay with the Hoosiers.
Curt Cignetti, Indiana Agree to New 8-Year, $92.8M Contract Amid Penn State Rumors
Scott Polacek (B/R) — Curt Cignetti isn’t going anywhere.
Amid rumors the Indiana head football coach could be a replacement for the fired James Franklin at Penn State, Cignetti and the Hoosiers agreed to an eight-year contract extension that will pay him an average annual value of $11.6 million.
The deal runs through the 2033 campaign and makes him the third-highest-paid coach in the country.
b/r
FanDuel has increased it’s point spread from 8.5 to 9.5 in favor of Notre Dame.
Josh Pate predicts that ND will win but that USC will cover the spread. “It looks like another one-possession loss where USC says, ‘We let another one get away.'”
Tell Josh, not this week. Not again this season.
I’ll let you tell him Steveg. Let us know what he says. 😂