How to watch Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. USC Trojans: CJ Carr and Jayden Maiava battle it out to become elite quarterbacks

The best ways to watch, stream, and listen to the Notre Dame vs. USC rivalry game.

Ryan Roberts — National College Football Writer
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Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman celebrates with his players after winning a NCAA football game 36-7 against NC State at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in South Bend.

When you talk about the greatest rivalries in college football, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. USC Trojans is usually mentioned quickly. This weekend’s matchup between the two programs is an extremely important test for each squad. For Notre Dame, the path toward a College Football Playoff berth is simple: win out, and you’re probably in.

For the Trojans, who sit with a 5-1 overall record, keep winning, and you very well could find yourself in the position to make a run at the right time. This is a matchup between two talented quarterbacks, and that will be one of the biggest storylines during the game. Will CJ Carr or Jayden Maiava come out on top? Whoever does will most likely cement elite status for themselves amongst the ranks of top signal callers in the country.

You can throw in the battle of head coaches with Marcus Freeman and Lincoln Riley, making for a lot of fun things to watch. There are several ways to watch, stream, or listen to the game this Saturday night. It should be an extremely entertaining game between two historic programs.

Notre Dame vs. USC facts

  • Notre Dame leads the all-time series with a 50-37-5 record
  • USC Trojans rank 1st all-time with 8 Heisman Trophy winners
  • Fighting Irish rank 1st all-time with 110 consensus All-Americans and 581 NFL draft picks
  • Notre Dame has gone 7-3 against USC in their last ten meetings
  • QBs CJ Carr and Jayden Maiava have combined to throw for 3,474 and 26 touchdowns

Where to watch, stream, and listen to Notre Dame vs. USC

Kickoff: 7:30 PM Eastern Time, Saturday, Oct. 18th; Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana

Where to watch: NBC

Here are the announcers for the Notre Dame-USC game:

Dan Hicks (play-by-play)

Jason Garrett (analysis)

Zora Stephenson (sideline)

Stream: YouTube TV, Peacock, Fubo TV, Sling TV

Radio: Locally on 960 WSBT-AM/101.5 WNSN-FM.

Notre Dame’s 2025 schedule:

  • Aug. 31 – at Miami (L 27-24)
  • Sept. 6 – Bye
  • Sept. 13 – Texas A&M (L 41-40)
  • Sept. 20 – Purdue (W 56-30)
  • Sept. 27 – at Arkansas (W 56-13)
  • Oct. 4 – Boise State (W 28-7)
  • Oct. 11 – NC State (W 36-7)
  • Oct. 18 – USC
  • Oct. 25 – Bye
  • Nov. 1 – at Boston College
  • Nov. 8 – Navy
  • Nov. 15 – at Pittsburgh
  • Nov. 22 – Syracuse
  • Nov. 29 – at Stanford

For the Notre Dame offense, they should have a clear advantage in the passing game. The Trojans do boast a solid defensive line, so protecting Carr will be a major priority. If they do, this Irish attack should be able to score a lot of points on Saturday night in primetime.

The Notre Dame defense brings much less certainty into this game. With how well Maiava and wide receiver Makai Lemon are playing, the Irish secondary will need to play their best brand of football under defensive coordinator Chris Ash this week. Being able to create pressure on Maiava would also be huge. How well the defense performs will be the biggest precursor for whether Coach Freeman’s team comes out on top.

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