They trailed for 56 minutes, 30 seconds.
They turned over the ball five times.
They gave up Notre Dame's first kickoff return for a touchdown in some two years.
And, ultimately, the previously undefeated and 10th-ranked USC Trojans were blasted by Marcus Freeman's Fighting Irish, 48-20, Saturday night inside Notre Dame Stadium.
While it perpetuated USC's cross-country losing skid to Notre Dame to six games and a dozen years -- No Trojans' wins in America's heartland since 2011 -- it also left second-year USC coach Lincoln Riley professing both his steadfast belief in the Trojans and that all their hopes and dreams remained in a season now with five games left.
"I still very much believe in this football team --- one-thousand percent," Riley told reporters postgame. "The good that you see from this football team is good enough to beat anybody, but we obviously know we've got to put it together and put it together quickly to get our best and to get it from all three sides and be able to rise together."
Riley shifted quickly to the Trojans's 4-0 start this season in PAC-12 play, and while his team earned those wins, it also revealed vulnerabilities.
USC led rebuilding Arizona State just 27-21 in the fourth quarter last month before it pulled away to win 42-28.
More recently, the Trojans logged back-to-back wins by a combined nine points against Colorado and Arizona -- teams also rebuilding that were not postseason factors a year ago.
The loss at Notre Dame not only was the worst of Riley's 86 games as a head coach but also marked USC's lowest offensive output -- just 302 yards -- in Riley's 21 games in Hollywood. Reigning Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams was picked off three times and limited to just 199 passing yards by the Irish.
"I reminded this team and will remind everybody, we're undefeated in this conference right now," Riley said. "We play in right now what I think is the best conference in college football, top to bottom, and every opportunity that we want is waiting for us."
Also waiting for the Trojans? The remainder of the most daunting portion of their 2023 slate.
The Notre Dame rivalry tilt kicked off a stretch that saw USC set to face ranked teams in five of its final six games; the Trojans get three of those remaining four games against currently ranked opponents at home -- Utah, Washington and UCLA -- but travel next month to current No. 8 Oregon.