Following the 2009 season, Notre Dame fired head coach Charlie Weis after the Irish finished 6-6, well below expectations of competing for a BCS bowl berth.

Irish stars Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate chose to forgo their final years of eligibility and declare for the 2010 NFL draft.

[5][6] The Irish also lost a number of seniors to graduation, including linemen Eric Olsen, Paul Duncan and four-year starter Sam Young.

On defense, ND lost senior captains Kyle McCarthy and Scott Smith, Raeshon McNeil, Sergio Brown, John Ryan and Ray Herring to graduation.

On August 31, within days of the September 4 season opener against Purdue, sophomore wide receiver Shaquelle Evans was granted his release from the team, and decided to enroll at UCLA.

[7] Freshman Derek Roback also left the program in early September, as his desire to play quarterback led to his transfer to Ohio[8] With his first recruiting class, Brian Kelly received 23 signed commitments from high school players across the United States.

Notre Dame wore green jerseys On a rainy Southern California night, the Trojans' Joe Houston kicked a 45-yard field goal to give USC a first quarter lead.

The Hurricanes tried to rally in the 4th quarter behind backup quarterback Stephen Morris, who threw a 6-yard touchdown to Leonard Hankerson and a 42-yard scoring play to Tommy Streeter, but it was too late by then.