Kizer Solely Focused on Beating USC

On Tuesday evening, Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer was short and to the point. The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder had suffered a couple big hits against Virginia Tech, including one that knocked him out of the game.

When asked how he was feeling, Kizer as simple as one can get.  

“I’m fine,” said Kizer. “I am getting ready for USC.”  

The answer was also repeated when he was asked if Saturday was potentially his last collegiate game.

“I’m worried about USC,” he stated.

USC is a tough task ahead of the Irish, as the Trojans are one of the hottest teams in the country. As a defense, USC will give Kizer a variety of looks in the 5-2 scheme that most teams simply don’t run.

“With their ability to use some great interior linemen, they can do a bunch behind it,” explained Kizer. “It allows them to be little free on some of the exotic blitzes and some great back end defense. You have to do whatever you can to be successful within the interior space. From there, you have to make adjustments to what the back end gives you.”  

The last time Notre Dame went to USC, the Irish returned to South Bend with a 49-14 loss. Kizer didn’t play that game, but he did travel and saw the environment he will experience this weekend.

“The Coliseum is an interesting place,” Kizer said. “It’s such a huge stadium and they could probably put 130,000 in there if they wanted to. It’s definitely a unique experience to be there. When I was there, we didn’t have the success we wanted.



With the game just two years ago, Kizer has many teammates that experienced that day and it’s one they haven’t forgotten.

“There’s quite a few guys that played in that game, including one guy that’s in my meeting room in Malik (Zaire),” Kizer stated. “Watching the film of that game and seeing some of the things we didn’t execute on – maybe we can pull from that game and do what we can do to be successful.

“It was disappointment. It was the last game of the season. We did whatever we could that year to put ourselves to play in a good bowl game. We had the same goals and the same dreams we did every year and that’s to get to the National Championship. The way we performed in that game was subpar. We want to make sure every time we play against USC from here on out, we recall the feeling of that and make sure we do whatever it takes to make sure we can be successful.”  

One thing Kizer will be doing, regardless of if it’s his last game at Notre Dame, will be embracing the moment. It’s a rivalry game and it can provide Notre Dame with momentum heading into the offseason, which is sure to be interesting.

“It’s huge,” Kizer said of the rivalry. “It’s the reason you come to a school like this. USC-Notre Dame goes back quite a bit and to have that powerhouse from the West Coast and the tradition we have winning here, every time we meet up with them you can count that as a season within itself.

“Both teams are going to come out and give their all regardless of the record. You can expect that out of us and them this week.”  

Kizer also said Brian Kelly and the coaching staff addressed today’s news of the NCAA penalties handed down to Notre Dame and that the team has already moved forward.

“They let us know what was going on,” he explained. “They let us know where we are as a team and there’s nothing that will be in effect moving forward. That’s all we needed to hear – to know that all we have in front of us is USC. Whatever comes out from the past isn’t going to impact us beating USC.”  

And as the Irish take off for Los Angeles on Thanksgiving Day, Kizer is thankful for his family. The junior quarterback has been through a lot this fall and will have a big decision to make over the next few weeks and he knows his family will support him either way.

“I am thankful for my family,” said Kizer. “They have been with me through a bunch of ups and downs. No matter what I go through, they are always there as an amazing support staff.”