Dame 17 USC defeated Notre Dame on the road for an unprecedented fifth straight win in South Bend. It was the first night game played in South Bend in 21 years. The turning point came in the third quarter. Down, 17–10, Notre Dame drove all the way to the USC 1-yard-line and were poised to tie the score when a fumbled snap from center was returned the other way for a touchdown by USC's Jawanza Starling to make it 24–10. For the game, Notre Dame debuted a shiny gold helmet. Nearly 50 recruits attended the game. 2012 – Notre Dame 22, USC 13 Going into the game, the teams found themselves in an unforeseen reversal of preseason expectations. Notre Dame was ranked #1 in the AP poll after being unranked in that poll to start the season, while USC entered the game unranked after starting the season as the preseason #1 team. With a balanced offensive attack and several late goal-line stands on defense, Notre Dame won the game 22–13. The Irish held on to their #1 BCS ranking and propelled themselves to the BCS Championship Game in Miami. With more than 16 million viewers, it was the most-watched regular-season college football game on ABC since 2006 and the most-viewed ABC Saturday night game ever. Notre Dame vacated this win in 2016 after "the NCAA determined that a Notre Dame trainer committed academic misconduct for two football players and provided six other players with extra benefits;" the NCAA identified one player who was ineligible for every game in the 2012 season, and another player who was ineligible for every game in the 2013 season. 2014 – USC 49, Notre Dame 14 Both teams were ranked in the preseason, with USC at #15 in both the AP and Coaches Polls while Notre Dame was #17 in both polls. Going into the game, both teams were unranked with identical 7–4 records. With a 49–14 victory, USC scored its highest points in the series in 40 years (#6 USC's 55–24 victory over #5 Notre Dame in 1974) and the highest score by either team in the series in 37 years (#11 Notre Dame's 49–19 victory over #5 USC in 1977). USC Quarterback Cody Kessler threw six touchdown passes, the first time in Notre Dame history that any team had ever made six touchdown passes against the Irish. 2018 – Notre Dame 24, USC