THE LOCALS

USC (3-2) at Notre Dame (3-3)

* Kickoff: 11:30 a.m. PDT Saturday at South Bend, Ind., Channel 4.

* Story line: Maybe this game doesn’t have the national impact it used to: Neither team is ranked for only the seventh time in 71 meetings. But the fans still take it very seriously--and the losers will be grumbling about their team’s coach after the game.

* USC update: A 31-24 loss to Arizona that was much more lopsided than the score knocked the Trojans for a loop--including receiver R. Jay Soward, who is still recovering from a concussion. USC heads to the Midwest to see if its season is headed north or south, and the answer might lie with an offense that was held to 271 yards and minus-20 on the ground against Arizona.

* Notre Dame update: The Irish have lost three in a row to USC, including a 10-0 game last season, and the streak is starting to weigh heavily. Their two-game winning streak after a 1-3 start has been fashioned by cutting down on turnovers and by the performance of quarterback Jarious Jackson. And USC will get no help from kicker Jim Sanson this year as it did in 1997: He was benched this week.

* Edge to Notre Dame: This season the Irish have Jackson, their No. 1 quarterback, but the Trojans don’t have theirs.

* Line: Notre Dame by 7 1/2.