No Simple Noise Solutions Here

Today will mark the 159th consecutive sellout at Notre Dame Stadium, meaning USC will face a loud and hostile crowd of more than 80,000.

Some of the Trojan underclassmen have heard tales about emerging from the locker room and entering a narrow tunnel where jostling and fights have broken out between the teams.

They have tried to imagine the roar that will greet them when they take the field.

Receiver Kareem Kelly, who played in South Bend as a freshman, said it is impossible to describe. “They just have to figure it out for themselves,” he said.

Coach Pete Carroll believes even his youngest players will have the benefit of experience, having played this season at Oregon and Washington, regarded as the loudest stadiums in the Pacific 10 Conference.

“I feel very confident we can go on the road and play well,” he said. “We know how to go out and communicate and be poised.”

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Several young USC players will set foot on a field where they might have spent their college careers.

Notre Dame Coach Bob Davie talked this week about how hard he recruited Trojan defensive tackle Shaun Cody and receiver Keary Colbert. Cody, in particular, went down to the last moment with his decision and had, at one point, seemed likely to choose South Bend because of his family.

“When I was a kid, we all rooted for the Irish,” he said. “The tradition and Touchdown Jesus and that great stadium.”

Offensive lineman Joe McGuire, a redshirt freshman, also considered heading east instead of signing with the Trojans.

“I used to love Notre Dame,” he said. “Then I figured out how cold it gets back there.”

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USC practiced lightly at a local high school Friday, then took a bus to Notre Dame where they gathered at the Grotto, a well-known spot on campus. A minister who married Carroll and his wife, Glena, spoke to the players about religious tolerance.

After a 45-minute walk-through at Notre Dame Stadium, the team spent the afternoon at the nearby College Football Hall of Fame.