It was the same old story last week as Notre Dame played its last home game in South Bend for the 2016 season. The result was a 34-31 loss to Virginia Tech in which the Irish shot out to a 17-0 lead only to let it slip away, yet again.

The game was one of two completely different halves of football for ND.In the first half, the offense scored almost at will with quarterback DeShone Kizer connecting on 13 of 18 first half passes and the defense showing some more new life. Then came the second half and everything fell apart. Kizer was three of 15 in the half and the defense, which held the potent Hokies offense in check during the first 30 minutes, could not stop them in the second half.Unlike the Army game the week before, ND played tentatively, lacking a "killer instinct" and no team leadership. It was a dreadful performance on senior day at ND stadium.Kizer's play again is puzzling. He looks so good at times and then looks so tentative and inconsistent. Many pro scouts say he is a first-round pick if the junior decides to give up his senior year in South Bend. He better think long and hard about that with the performances he has put in the last few weeks.The South Bend media take on the game put it this way. Notre Dame's confidence "is kaput." No confidence in head coach Brian Kelly, no confidence in its once highly rated offense and no confidence in its struggling, up and down defense.Many feel the real decline in what was a very promising season began with the upset loss to Duke at home. After that loss Kelly fired defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder. Then the losses began to mount. A loss to North Carolina State during a hurricane, then the Stanford and Navy losses in which ND led but blew the lead in the end.The season his hard to figure out. ND has scored first in 10 of 11 games this season but is 4-7. ND drives up and down the field in the first half, then it can't make a third and three. The defense looks like it was finally turning around in the Syracuse and Miami games, only to fall back on old problems. First, there is a pass rush to help the very young secondary, then, the pass rush disappears and the Irish give up big pass plays and eventually lose.It also very frustrating to lose so many games by so few points. The worst loss was by eight points so far. And it is equally frustrating to lose so many game when you are ahead but can't hold the lead.ND's administration has said Kelly will be back for his eighth year as head coach. Perhaps Kelly should take a long, hard look at himself and say, for the good of the school, the program, maybe its time to step aside.More on the game later.Today ND faces its number one rival in USC. The Irish are catching the Trojans at a time when they seem to be peaking.After a somewhat slow start, the Trojans have been on fire winning the last seven in a row and even have an outside chance to be selected for the College Football Playoffs.USC enters the game at 8-3 with wins of Utah State, 45-7; Arizona State, 41-20; Colorado, 21-17; Arizona, 48-14; California, 45-24; Oregon, 45-20; Washington, 26-13; and last week UCLA, 36-14. The losses have been the opener to Alabama, 52-6; Stanford, 27-10; and Utah, 31-27. After the Utah loss, the Trojans got their act together and havn't looked back.USC is led by QB Sam Darnold, who has completed 194 of 284 passes for 24 touchdowns with eight interceptions. His pass efficiency of 162.4, is among the highest in the country. The Trojans top running backs are Ronald Jane with 141 carries for 893 yards and 10 scores and Justin Davis with 94 carries for 538 yards and two scores. Their top receivers are JuJu Smith-Schuster with 59 catches for 758 yards and eight TDs and Darius Rogers with 47 carries for 605 yards and three touchdowns..The Trojans are averaging 31.8 points per game; 207.3 yards rushing per game; and 266.8 passing yards per game.ND leads the series, 46-36-5. ND won last year, 41-31 and the Trojans took the 2014 game, 49-14.The game will be televised nationally by ABC-TV with a 3:30 p.m. start (kickoff about 3:40).IRISH NOTES ... ND scored 28 points and had 299 total yards in the first half Saturday then managed just seven points and 150 total yards the second half while going three-and-out five times in the second half. Virginia Tech's defense wasn't that good, it was the Irish poor play on defense and the lack of any offense ... Kizer finished 16 of 33 passing for 235 yards and two TDs. Josh Adams ran for 100 yards on 13 carries and two scores while Equanimeous St. Brown caught six passes for 90 yards. ND had 200 rushing yards and 249 passing for a total offense of 449 yards ... This will be ND first losing season since 2007 ... Kizer took a couple of hard hits in the game, one of which Kelly and the media felt was a "target hit" meaning a 15-yard penalty should have been called. Kizer did not have a concussion from the hits and is ready for today ... As you probably read the NCAA hit ND with some heavy penalties this week for an incident that occurred about four years ago. After reading the South Bend Tribune and Chicago area papers, the consensus is that ND, which said it will appeal the sancitons imposed, will prevail and the penalties will be reduced. One writer put it simply, "the penalty does not fit the crime." ... Today the Irish finish a season that held so much promise. Predictions of 10-2 and 9-3 season were the norm. Right from the opening game against Texas the Irish knew they had big issues with the defense. As the weeks went by, their was little or no improvement in the defense. The final straw game with ND losing to 18-point underdog Duke in South Bend. ND will have plenty of talent back next season with a strong recruiting class in place. But is Brian Kelly the man for the job or has the team loss confidence in him and his program? So real soul-searching must be done by Kelly and the ND administration before the 2017 home opener with Temple. In my preseason picks I have USC winning today. Looking at what the Trojans have done the last seven weeks makes me think that this could be a real blow-out loss for the Irish, who are 17 point underdogs. That is one of the largest negative spreads in a long time for a Notre Dame team. This is my last column for the season since ND, thankfully, won't be going to a bowl game. I want to thank those who read the column each week for their support. Hope to be with you next season.