The USC-Notre Dame rivalry is one of the best in college football, but it's been a bit lopsided in recent years. The Fighting Irish have won nine of the last 12 matchups.
The Las Vegas Raiders now employ a USC legend in head coach Pete Carroll and a Notre Dame legend in tight end Michael Mayer. Mayer went 2-1 against USC during his college career, and the topic of the rivalry came up during the Raiders' Media Day.
Mayer poked some fun at the rivalry at Carroll's expense.
"We haven't really talked about it yet, I'll be honest," Mayer said when asked about Carroll's USC background.
"Exactly," Mayer replied when Eric Allen pointed out that Notre Dame has been "stomping" USC in recent years. "I gotta watch what I say sometimes, he's listening."
While Notre Dame has the edge over USC in recent years, it's going to be difficult for Mayer to get too many good shots in at the coach. Carroll was 8-1 against Notre Dame in his college career, including an eight-game win streak.
Carroll wasn't with the Trojans for any of Mayer's wins over the program. That said, this will probably be a talking point again for the Raiders once Notre Dame and USC match up again.
Carroll didn't go to school at USC, but he clearly has a lot of love for the program from his tenure there as head coach. If it wasn't for USC, Carroll may not have gotten another chance to be an NFL head coach. He continues to be involved with the program, as he teaches a class there in the offseason.
