USC Week.
It explains itself.
Every player in both programs knows what this rivalry means, as it’s one of the best in the country.
For Notre Dame captain, Drayk Bowen, it probably means a little more. Four years ago, Bowen gave his pledge to Marcus Freeman hours before the Irish took down USC 31-16.
Saturday night will be a big recruiting weekend for the Irish, but on the field, Bowen and his teammates will be playing to stay in the race for the playoffs and potentially bragging rights for a while as the USC rivalry is still up in the air.
“It's gonna be emotional, more than just a game throughout the week,” explained Bowen. “Getting ready for USC, it's always a big game, you're always excited for it. It's something that you're going to mark on your calendar each year. You know the date, you know the game. You know it's a huge game in the season.
“We're all excited for it. Basically, the biggest thing we have to do is tune out the noise, we gotta be here on a Tuesday, be here on a Wednesday and do what we need to do to get a win.”
There is no doubt emotions will be high on Saturday night and that plays right into Bowen’s wheelhouse.
“It's just how I've always been,” Bowen stated. “I've always played with emotion. I'm a very emotional person on the field. It's where I get to kind of let out everything that you may bottle up that you don't say or anything like that. I've always been like that from when I was little to now, it's just where I just let everything out.”
Bowen is also known for his swagger. You see it after big plays by his teammates and after his big hits, which have started to come on a weekly basis.
A week ago, Bowen put NC State running back Hollywood Smothers in the ground and it injected even more energy into a defense that was already hunting.
The physicality in Bowen’s game is also something that’s always been there as he wants the opposition to tap out.
“You hope he feels it a little more the next time he wants to run the ball,” said Bowen. “It certainly feels good for me when you get to hit somebody pretty good. I hope he felt it. If not, then I didn't hit him hard enough.”
Bowen’s pass coverage was a hot topic over the course of the first two weeks of the season. Yes, the Texas A&M play happened, but you’re not going to find too many linebackers who can make a better play.
NFL scouts have praised Bowen’s coverage this year and he showed off his speed a week ago covering Smothers down the sideline, a play that the 6-foot-2, 235-pounder was anticipating.
“He's a great running back and they motioned him out,” recalled Bowen. “Early in the week, I saw they kinda had tight splits from a previous game and so I knew two routes were coming. They had already run it once on Jaiden (Ausberry). I knew it was either gonna be a fade ball or it was gonna be some type of under route and they were gonna try and pick me.
“As soon as he took off, I was like, ‘Oh, the ball's coming here,’ and then kinda read his eyes. I was just trying to stay in the way, try to get body to body, make the quarterback make a good throw. Don't be too early with the hands or something like that and get a pass interference, but just more of play your right technique, make the quarterback make a really good throw, make him make a good catch.”
The pass was incomplete and Notre Dame’s defense is seeing more and more passes fall to the ground over the last four games.
There is no doubt Notre Dame struggled to find its footing against Miami and Texas A&M, but it appears the Irish have turned a significant corner and it starts with the players finding comfort in Chris Ash’s scheme.
“We sat down, made sure there's no gray area at all,” explained Bowen. “You have to know your job. If you don't know your job, you can't play. I think it was a little bit of that. We're just playing with the emotion and swagger. Like that was something that I don't think, me personally, like I wasn't playing with it enough. Our defense as a whole, and so I think that's something that's coming out, is we're just playing with a swagger.
“We know who we are, you have to beat us, and you have to do a play after play for 60 minutes. And personally, I don't think you can. That's the type of mindset that I wanted our defense to have this year coming into it. I think we're starting to grow and kind of learn who we are.”
Notre Dame will now get to show how far it truly has come as USC boasts one of the most explosive offenses in the country.
USC quarterback Jayden Maiava is playing as well as any quarterback in the country and Bowen is familiar with his game.
A year ago, Maiava’s offense scored 35 points on a very good Notre Dame defense as he threw for 360 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.
“I would say he's a lot more comfortable in the system,” Bowen said of Maiava. “He's not making really bad decisions with the ball at all. He knows where his guy is. He knows No. 6, (Makai) Lemon is his guy and if they need a play, that's where the ball's going. He knows when he needs to to get out of the pocket, when to step up. But I think the biggest thing is he's comfortable in the scheme.”
Bowen also knows from experience what it takes to slow down Maiava and the USC offense.
“The biggest thing is going to be communication,” said Bowen. “They're always going to have motions or something to scheme us up. There's going to be communication. Just make sure we're doing our job. They're going to try and mess with our tools or our coverages somehow, someway. They always do. That's the biggest thing. It's just making sure we know what we're supposed to do and communicate.”
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