which tied his career-long catch — giving the Trojans a 24-21 lead.

Their excitement was flattened when Notre Dame’s Jamarion Price returned the ensuing kick for 100 yards and a touchdown. USC had two missed tackles on the play, and the Irish (5-2) were ahead once again.

“The kickoff return, obviously, was a huge, huge play in the game after we had taken the lead,” Riley said. “You just can’t do that against a good football team.”

Freshman quarterback CJ Carr scored on a quarterback keeper to increase Notre Dame’s lead to 34-24 with 7:16 to go in the game.

Carr went 16-for-26 for 136 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Maiava completed 22 of 42 passes for 328 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.

The 96th edition of the USC-Notre Dame football rivalry may be the last one if a new contract between the schools is not reached. Both teams were playing like it.

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love proved why he’s at the top of NFL Draft projections, knowing exactly when to burst through the trenches and when to allow the blocks to unfold in front of him.

He had a game-long run of 63 yards on Notre Dame’s second play of the game and had support on the ground from Jadarian Price, who finished with 87 yards and a touchdown.

“In this game, from the sideline, there were a lot of stalemates,” Riley said, “but we had a lot of guys not stunting into correct gaps or not fitting into correct gaps. And again, against two really good backs like that, they’re going to make you pay.”

USC’s offense got to work quickly and the Trojans only trailed by one point, 14-13, at halftime.

Maiava missed on his first screen pass of the game before adjusting to hit Lake McRee with a 10-yard pass that was just low enough to be within the 6-foot-4 tight end’s reach and high enough to be out of range for any defenders.

USC was first on the scoreboard with the clock reading 11:09 in the first quarter.

Ryon Sayeri made field goals 42 and 24 yards in the first half and Tanook Hines became the night’s primary receiver, since the Irish were carefully patrolling Makai Lemon in the slot and Ja’Kobi Lane out wide.

The USC defense forced a pivotal turnover midway through the second quarter, showing the level of technical aggression that the Trojans are capable of.

Notre Dame’s Carr faked a pass to Love, but was chased down by USC safety Kamari Ramsey before he had the chance to make a read.

The Trojans proceeded to methodically move down the field with a series of short runs, despite the absence of dynamic rushers Waymond Jordan and Eli Sanders, and reached the 3-yard line. The coaching staff sent out five receivers in an attempt to score, but an incomplete pass had them settling for Sayeri’s 24-yard field goal.

USC next enters a bye week and still has multiple quality opponents left on its schedule, including Nebraska, Iowa and Oregon.

“We’ve got some really cool opportunities in front of us here again with the way that we positioned ourselves in this conference,” Riley said. “We’ll get on the bye week, get some work in, get some of these guys back healthy and get ready.”