Notre Dame 14, USC 10: Cam McDaniel rushed for 92 yards and Tommy Rees threw two touchdown passes for the host Fighting Irish.

Rees hit Troy Niklas and TJ Jones with the scores before departing early in the second half with an apparent head injury. Andrew Hendrix took over at quarterback for Notre Dame (5-2) but was ineffective during the scoreless second half, failing to complete a pass on his four attempts and rushing for 5 yards on six carries.

Silas Redd rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown for USC, the first ball carrier to surpass the 100-yard mark against the Fighting Irish this season. Cody Kessler was 20-for-34 for 201 yards for the Trojans (4-3), who had won the last five meetings at Notre Dame.

The Trojans stopped Notre Dame on a goal-line stand on the game’s opening drive and then marched 96 yards on 13 plays to take a 7-0 lead on Redd’s 1-yard run. The Fighting Irish drove back down the field on their next possession and tied the score on a 7-yard touchdown reception by Niklas.

Jones was shaken up on a deep sideline pass that fell incomplete late in the first half, but returned to the game following McDaniel’s 36-yard run to the 11 and immediately scored on Rees’s touchdown throw for a 14-10 lead at the break. Rees stayed down after he was sacked by blitzing middle linebacker Lamar Dawson with 9:16 left in the third quarter and didn't return.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Trojans played without leading rusher Tre Madden, who suffered a hamstring injury in last week’s win against Arizona, and leading receiver Marqise Lee left early in the second half with a left knee injury. … Notre Dame has won 12 of the last 13 games decided by a touchdown or less. … . USC kicker Andre Heidari missed field goals of 40 and 46 yards before Kessler was sacked on fourth-and-20 from the Notre Dame 31 with 2:49 remaining.