USC’s game against Notre Dame offers a chance to define the Trojans’ season

USC is bad. It has escaped with close wins over unranked, not-quite-powerhouses such as Western Michigan, California and Utah.

USC is great. The Trojans have won six of seven games and are positioned well for the College Football Playoff so long as they keep winning.

USC is underperforming. The Trojans have taken a lead into the fourth quarter only three times in seven games.

USC is underrated. Its strength of schedule is 10th in the country according to Jeff Sagarin’s ratings. That’s the best of any one-loss or undefeated team.

Heading into USC’s game on Saturday against Notre Dame, USC has become college football’s Rorschach Test. A sizable gap has opened between the assessment of USC’s players and coaches and those of its most vociferous detractors.

Saturday’s game could come to define the entire season. A loss would validate those concerned that No. 11 USC has hardly dominated this season. A win over No. 13 Notre Dame, even an ugly one, would erase most doubt. After Saturday, USC will be heavy favorites in its final four regular-season games before a potential Pac-12 championship game that would have playoff implications.

“If we go all the way and win a national championship, no one’s gonna look back in 10 years and be like, ‘Oh, well they beat Texas in double-overtime,’ ” tight end Tyler Petite said. “They’re gonna see how many wins we have.”

“They’ll remember your record at the end of the day,” coach Clay Helton said.

The feeling that USC was being unfairly judged burbled to the surface two weeks ago, after USC defeated Oregon State. Upset over an unsatisfied fan base and pollsters who’d dropped USC far down the polls after a road loss to Washington State, safety Chris Hawkins remarked that “it seems like the college football world takes us lightly.”

USC has come to identify with last season’s Clemson team, which won the national title despite numerous turnovers and a string of unimpressive wins early. Last week, Helton used Clemson as an example of a team that overcame a regular-season loss. This week, Petite pointed to Clemson again.

“There were plenty of games where they won on a field goal or they were within five points and won,” he said.

But the reality was USC did not play particularly well in the first half of its season. At the heart of its struggles were turnovers. Only three teams in the nation have turned the ball over more. The lax ball security resulted in a wave of close wins.

A win last week against Utah was more of the same. In the first half, turnovers torpedoed USC again — this time three fumbles by quarterback Sam Darnold. In the second half, USC was overpowering and won on a characteristically thrilling two-point conversion stop.

Those bullish and those bearish on USC’s season each found plenty of validation.

USC’s players contended this week that the close wins can be explained by the quality of opponent. USC has had one easy game this season, against Oregon State. The rest of the teams it has played are all likely to make bowl games.

“Look at our record,” Petite said. “I think what some people fail to realize is that we are playing teams that are very, very good.”

Notre Dame might be the best team yet. The Fighting Irish, unlike USC, have won convincingly this season. In their five wins, the average margin has been 28 points. Their only loss was to No. 3 Georgia by one point.

USC knows a win over Notre Dame will be difficult. It will also be difficult to ignore.

“As long as we win, I’m not going to complain,” Darnold said. “Yeah, there is some stuff we’ve gotta clean up, and I think we have. ... But, yeah, we’re 6-1. We’re in control of our own destiny right now. And I think we have a really good shot at winning every game from here on out, and that’s the goal.”

zach.helfand@latimes.com

Follow Zach Helfand on Twitter @zhelfand