The 2014 Notre Dame football season started with the Irish ranked in the top 25 but with some real problems to overcome. The Irish would score points but its young and inexperienced defense would give up a lot. The prediction from most, including me, was seven or eight wins with five or four losses.

But after the Rice opener and a stunning performance by the young defense, the Irish and its fans thought maybe this team would make a run for a spot in the new playoff system. And through the first four games the Irish prevailed, but with each win questions were asked such as the Irish offense struggling at times and turning the ball over a lot. After the North Carolina game, the questions started about the defense might not be as good as it seemed. But many figured the injuries were taking its toll on the defense, especially the experience players.Somewhere between the excellent performance against Florida State, which the officials took a win away from ND, the Irish have been on a downward slide. The offense continued to show it could be explosive, but quarterback Everett Golson's turnovers kept putting pressure on the now struggling defense. The last two loses of this three-game skid lies with head coach Brian Kelly who made some very questionable, and some would say dumb, decisions.You would think, playing in your 11th game of the season, the kicking game would be settled in and not an adventure every week. But the kicking game cost the Irish a chance to take Louisville into overtime and a chance for a come-from-behind victory. It was the kicking game that help go a long way in the Northwestern loss.Kelly decided to change holders for kicker Kyle Brindza and this week, for the first time, Brindza admitted it bothered him when Hunter Smith was replaced as holder after the Arizona State game and was replaced by backup QB Malik Zaire. The next game, Northwestern, Brindza missed only is second PAT in his career when Zaire mishandled the snap. Zaire, as the NBC replay showed, mishandled the snap for the field goal try in the Louisville game which would have probably sent the game into overtime. Other decisions by Kelly have also come to light. And the one thing that stands out to me in Kelly's five year career at ND, he doesn't win the games he really has to win.ND now heads into the final regular season game today with Southern California. USC and ND both enter at 7-4 and both have lost games they were predicted to win.The long-running series has always drawn national attention. NBC, over the past few years, have made it a night game when in South Bend. And in the years the game has been in Los Angeles, ABC, and now Fox, have always made it a prime time affair.The fact the game has a 3:30 p.m. EST kickoff today tells you that neither the Irish or Trojans have much national appeal this year.USC's wins have been over Fresno State, 52-13; Stanford, 13-10; Oregon State, 35-10; Arizona, 28-26; Colorado, 56-28; Washington State, 44-17; and California, 38-30. The four losses have been to BC, 37-31; Arizona State, 38-34; Utah, 24-21; and last week, UCLA, 38-20.The Trojans average 153.9 yards per game rushing and a big 287.5 passing. Cody Kessler is the QB and has completed 260 passes out of 373 with four interceptions and 30 touchdowns. Top receiver is Nelson Aghalor with 85 catches for 103 yards and 10 TDs and JuJu Smith, 46-610-5 TDs. But the real offensive threat is runningback Javorius Allen who has 1,289 yards on 231 carries and nine TDs.ND leads the series, 45-35-5, and has won the last two, including last year in South Bend, 14-10.The game will be televised nationally by Fox-TV with, as I noted, with the kickoff about 3:40.IRISH NOTES: Some game stats from last week. Tarean Folston rushed for 134 yards on 18 carries with Cam McDaniel 22 on two. Golson was 16 of 24 passing for 236 yards, two TDs and one interception. Top receivers were Will Fuller, five catches for 109 yards and a score; Chris Brown, 4-49, and Corey Robinson, 3-41 and a TD. Defensively Jaylon Smith had 11 tackles and Nyles Morgan 10 ... Golson, who had a AC shoulder sprain in the Northwestern game, showed no ill affects last week ... Injuries have really depleted the defense. There is a chance that seven preseason projected defensive starters won't play today. ND has missed at some point or another during the season Sheldon Day, Isaac Rochell and Jarron Jones up front; linebackers Joe Schmidt, James Onwualu and Jaylon Smith; and secondary players Cody Riggs, Max Redfield and Austin Collinsworth. Add to the mix suspended players, lineman Ishaq Williams and cornerback KeVarae Russell. Now safety freshman Drue Tranquill is lost for what's left of the season with a ACL tear in his knee Jones is also gone for the season with a foot injury.... Last week's loss was the first one on Senior Day for Kelly in five years at ND ... Last week was the first time this season that ND didn't score a touchdown in the first half .... The South Bend Tribune has been reporting that there are rumors that Kelly might be in line for the vacant head job at Florida. Kelly had a chance to quash those rumors at a news conference earlier this week, but instead chose to make a joke of it. Tribune lead columnist, Al Lesar, wrote a piece about it and the demands of the ND job compared that of the Florida job. He also wrote something that just might be the determining point, if it is true that Flordia is interested in Kelly. Lesar wrote, "The 2015 Notre Dame team could be good. Really good. Combine a depth chart full of returning talent with a strong recruiting class and a schedule that is reasonable to navigate, and there's a really good chance Notre Dame could be in the playoff conversation, for real this time." Kelly spent the last five years bringing in the type of talent he needs to run his upbeat, explosive type offense, why would he walk away now? ... In my preseason picks I had the Irish at 8-3 at this point and predicted a loss to USC. Although both teams have struggled at times, the Trojans will want this more than the Irish, after two straight losses to ND and last week's whipping by crosstown rival UCLA. I will stay with my pick of USC. This is the last column until ND's bowl game. And yes, despite a possible 7-5 record, ND will go to a bowl game.