(Notre Dame) — On a night where you could drown in the trenches, Notre Dame handled things swimmingly.

Jeremiyah Love ran for 228 yards and a touchdown and Jadarian Price returned a kickoff 100 yards for another score as 13th-ranked Notre Dame downed archrival and 20th-ranked USC, 34-24, in a torrential rain at Notre Dame Stadium.  The win is the fifth in a row for the 5-2 Irish, who may find themselves in the top 10 of next week’s polls.

“It was a struggle,” said an exhausted Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman afterwards. “They continued to be resilient, continued to run the football, be opportunistic on defense and create some turnovers in the second half, and the result is the result. You remember rivalry games. Those are games that mean more, because of what it represents for the university, and those that came before us.”

Freeman had said earlier in the week this would be a bloody game, and the Irish were the more physical team much of the night, opening up big holes for the tandem of Love and Price, who combined with quarterback CJ Carr to run for 306 yards on the night.

“I love being physical, making it bloody,” stated Love. “We have Bloody Tuesday during the week, so it’s nothing new to us. We try to bring the opponent into our world.”

The Irish needed to combat the passing of USC quarterback Jaiden Maiava, who threw for 328 yards and two touchdowns, but was also intercepted twice in the second half.

Notre Dame led 14-13 at halftime and opened the second half with an impressive 13-play, 75-yard drive capped by a Carr touchdown pass to Will Pauling to make it 21-13.

After a Trojan field goal narrowed the gap to 21-16, USC took the lead in the third as Maiava found Ja’Kobi Lane behind the secondary for a 55-yard strike. The ensuing two-point conversion to Lane put the visitors up 24-21.

That lead was short-lived as Price took the kickoff at his goal line, moved to the right, made a stutter step and then blazed 100 yards for the second time in his career against the Trojans.

“I didn’t do the right thing. I went outside the block, but it worked out,” confessed Price. “Once I broke the first tackle, I knew I was going to the house.”

It was still a 27-24 Irish lead early in the 4th with USC driving, when the Trojans made a questionable play call. Makhi Lemon took the ball on an end around looking to pass. Adon Shuler knocked the ball away and Kyngston Villiamu-Asa made the recovery at midfield.

Notre Dame then marched 50 yards with Carr toting the ball in from the two to make it 34-24 with 7:16 remaining.

One last USC scoring threat was squelched on a Luke Talich interception deep in Irish territory and a rain-soaked celebration was on.