Too many horses, not enough horsemen

The Four Horsemen galloped to their graves long ago.

One wonders if, come Saturday, they will be turning over in them.

Watching the formerly Fighting Irish play football this season, and for several seasons now, cannot be easy on the legends of the past -- all, presumably, viewing from above.

It’s not all that great for the living loyalists, either.

But the hardest pill to swallow, if you happen to wear a lot of green and surround yourself with people whose last names begin with the letter O, is to watch a cherished rivalry became somebody else’s revelry.

USC will play Notre Dame at the Coliseum in the traditional every-other-year, Saturday-after-Thanksgiving game. Since 1926, that meeting has rung the chimes of those who cared on both sides. It even has had the rest of a neutral nation picking sides.

What a fascinating canvas this has been painted on. A Trojan Horse, a Leprechaun and millions of followers on each side. It is eight decades of heated conflict that has grown to genuine respect for each other and, in moments of weak emotionalism, honest fondness.

The late and beloved Marv Goux, longtime Trojans assistant coach and emotional compass for legions of ‘SC fans for years, summed up USC-Notre Dame best.

“It’s big man on big man, best against best,” Goux would growl. Grown men with rooting interests on either side would ball up their fists and get teary-eyed.

Now, five days from the teams’ 80th meeting, men (and women) on the Leprechaun side are balling up their fists, all right. But in anger. Those riding the Trojan Horse to yet another season of success are merely dismayed. Both know the hard truth.

This rivalry is on shaky ground.

That doesn’t mean they will stop playing anytime soon, even if the embarrassment factor starts to become a real issue. Case in point: Syracuse 24, Notre Dame 23.

Things will go on for a while simply because hope springs as eternal as the need for TV ratings and the need to fill a couple of stadiums with more than 80,000 people every year.

But let’s face it. This is starting to look like the Russian army against David and his slingshot.

USC is having a bad year, meaning it might not be a player in the national-title picture for a change. But the Trojans are still a one-fluky-loss powerhouse with so much talent and depth that the first team’s toughest opponent each week is the second team.

Notre Dame?

The Irish, fresh from nearly blowing a 20-point lead nine days ago before escaping with a victory against vaunted Navy, blew another big lead Saturday against Syracuse.

That was 2-8 Syracuse, a 19 1/2 -point underdog, which had fired its coach, Greg Robinson, the week before, but let him take his team to South Bend for what everybody expected would be some nice goodbye bonding and a loss.

But the Irish misused their timeouts, mismanaged the clock and took one of the biggest missteps in their storied football history. As a reward, they can now come to the Coliseum and face getting stepped on.

Rivalry? Please.

By slipping past Navy in Baltimore, Notre Dame became bowl-eligible with a sixth victory. Now, the Irish need a victory over USC just to get to 7-5 (don’t hold your breath) and to a middle-level bowl game.

Holy Knute Rockne! Could this be the year for the Sun Bowl?

Yes, it could happen. Notre Dame could come into the Coliseum and beat USC. As the cliche goes, that’s why they play the game. Inexplicable things do happen in college football, such as USC’s gag job against UCLA two years ago.

And yes, there have been other periods of domination in this rivalry. Who can forget the 13-year Irish run that started in 1983 and triggered jokes about guys in bars with dogs that had lived their entire lives and had never seen ‘SC beat Notre Dame.

But now it is six in a row for the Trojans, including their most lopsided win ever in the series, 38-0 last year. In South Bend, no less.

USC seems to have it nicely lined up for years to come.

Pete Carroll is captain charisma, who might as well have a lifetime contract. Charlie Weis is a self-proclaimed “sarcastic New Jersey guy,” who got a 10-year contract three years ago that may now be as secure as working for a newspaper.

Mark Sanchez has three guys behind him who can rush for 200 yards on a given night and as many receivers who can catch for that number.

Jimmy Clausen -- still learning, we are told -- has an equal number of good receivers, but a tendency to throw to the guys covering them.

A rivalry that looks, year after year, like a cat chasing a mouse is hardly a rivalry. A rivalry that has Las Vegas putting double-figure odds on the team that has won the last six and outscored the opponent by 246-92 in that span is hardly a rivalry.

The worst thing is that the Trojans, who truly understand the value of this rivalry and the need for its tradition and quality to be retained, may be starting to feel bad for the Irish.

Which has Irish fans mortified, embarrassed and left with only two things to cling to:

The hope of a miracle on Saturday.

O.J. jokes.

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bill.dwyre@latimes.com.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

An easy six

USC has defeated Notre Dame six consecutive times, including the Trojans’ most lopsided win in the series last year.

*--* 2007 USC 38, at Notre Dame 0 2006 at USC 44, Notre Dame 24 2005 USC 34, at Notre Dame 31 2004 at USC 41, Notre Dame 10 2003 USC 45, at Notre Dame 14 2002 at USC 44, Notre Dame 13 *--*