College Football AP Top 25: Winners and losers of Week 9

SOUTH BEND, IN - OCTOBER 21: Drue Tranquill #23 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates with teammates after recovering a fumbled punt in the second quarter of a game against the USC Trojans at Notre Dame Stadium on October 21, 2017 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

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SOUTH BEND, IN – OCTOBER 21: Sam Darnold #14 of the USC Trojans gets tackled while trying to pass in the second quarter of a game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium on October 21, 2017 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Loser: USC Trojans (No. 11 down to No. 21)

How the mighty have fallen. The USC Trojans began the season as a top-five team in college football, but they have since looked like nothing more than a middle-of-the-pack squad in the Pac-12. While Saturday night’s 35-point loss to Notre Dame won’t affect the Trojans’ Pac-12 title hopes as it was a non-conference game, it still crushed playoff aspirations.

To begin the year, Clay Helton believed he had one of the top teams in college football, and so did just about everyone else. The Trojans returned arguably the top quarterback in the country in Sam Darnold and had a strong run game with Ronald Jones II. The defense was a question mark, but the talent was there.

Through eight games, USC looks tired and has limped to a 6-2 record. Sure, the Trojans are bowl eligible, a mark that they achieved last week, but they just seem to be affected by not having a bye week until after the last game of the year.

Darnold looked pedestrian, at best, against the Fighting Irish with another slew of turnovers and Jones II only managed 32 rushing yards. This team couldn’t stop Notre Dame, either, as the Irish accounted for 497 yards. You can say goodbye to USC’s national title hopes.

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