Rarity: Trojans, Irish Unranked

What seemed a stunning anomaly in 1997 has happened again: USC and Notre Dame will meet Saturday as unranked teams for only the seventh time in the history of the series.

USC won the last time, two seasons ago, when John Robinson went out a winner in his last trip to South Bend, Ind., as the Trojans’ coach.

The Trojans also won one other game when neither team was ranked, in 1950, but lost to the Irish in such meetings in 1940, 1960, 1983 and 1985.

*

Coach Paul Hackett was 0-3 against Notre Dame at Pittsburgh but is 1-0 as USC’s coach, the Trojans having won last season, 10-0, over a Notre Dame team that struggled offensively with quarterback Jarious Jackson out because of a knee injury.

Jackson will play this week--and ranks third in the nation in passing efficiency and 16th in total offense, at 281 yards a game.

*

From the “ouch” department: Arizona Daily Star columnist Greg Hansen wrote about the reputed Trojan “arrogance” in Sunday’s paper, and quoted offensive coordinator Dino Babers as saying it was a factor in the game. “It’s not that there’s bad blood,” Babers said. “But it’s ‘SC, and the image they portray is that, ‘You can’t run on us, and nobody can stop us.’ It’s a sensitive thing. Our kids respond to it.”

*

The kickoff for the Stanford game Oct. 23 at the Coliseum has been set for 12:30 p.m. It will be regionally televised by ABC.