Notre Dame football accomplished history Saturday never seen in 17 years at the Football Bowl Subdivision level. And the Fighting Irish pulled off this feat against annual bitter rival USC in Los Angeles, as Notre Dame rolled to a 49-35 romp and with Trojans legend Caleb Williams in the house. 

The visitors inside the L.A. Memorial Coliseum grabbed not one, but two pick sixes. But these weren't just any interceptions. Notre Dame took both back for a combined 199 yards — in the fourth quarter.

Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiva first saw Christian Gray step in front of his end zone pass. Gray accelerated 99 yards for the touchdown with 3:39 left. Maiva, though, watched an even longer interception return. Xavier Watts snatched the ball from inside the end zone, then ate up 100 yards for the game-sealing touchdown for ND.

Notre Dame joined history after Watts' pick six. The Fighting Irish emerged as the first defense to deliver multiple pick sixes in a single season since the 2007 UTEP Miners, per OptaSTATS.

Notre Dame pulled off the rare feat while being led by a defensive mind in head coach Marcus Freeman.

How Notre Dame has fared defensively for 2024

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Notre Dame pulled up to Southern California with the nation's fourth-best defense in tow.

The Irish only allowed 273.1 total yards per game through 11 games. Opposing offenses also only averaged 4.24 yards per play facing Freeman's unit. Opponents only crossed the end zone 15 times against the Irish defense.

Even before the USC game, opponents struggled running up the score on ND. Only Louisville emerged as the lone offense to surpass the 20-point mark on Notre Dame. The last six opponents after couldn't scale over 14 against ND.

USC, however, becomes the first to crack the 30-point threshold. Maiva combined for all five USC touchdowns, including three through the air. But, Maiva and a vaunted Trojans air attack failed to deliver a single completion past 40 yards.

Notre Dame now awaits its College Football Playoff fate. At 11-1, the Fighting Irish are in tremendous shape to enter and potentially claim one of the four top seeds. The fifth of six CFP pairings are announced on Tuesday, Dec. 3. But the final seedings are unveiled Sunday, Dec. 8 and a day after conference championship games get decided.