Notre Dame remains in top 20 of ESPN’s latest power rankings

Notre Dame fell six spots in ESPN’s Week 13 power rankings.

The Fighting Irish are now No. 19 following their 38-27 loss to USC over the weekend. They fought h

ard, but two turnovers from Drew Pyne turned into 14 points for the Trojans — and ultimately the difference in the game.

Here’s some analysis from Paolo Uggetti:

What had been an impressive run back up the rankings for the Irish after a slow start to their season was cut short by the Caleb Williams buzz saw on Saturday. The Irish tried their best to slow down Williams and USC’s offense, to no avail. The Notre Dame offense did its part too: Quarterback Drew Pyne didn’t throw an incompletion until the fourth quarter, and the Trojans could not stop tight end Michael Mayer. It was still not enough to pull off the road upset.

Michael Mayer was unstoppable, as Uggetti noted. He caught eight passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns in what may have been his final college game.

Notre Dame finishes the regular s

eason with an 8-4 record. Aside from losses to Marshall and Stanford, this was a solid first season for Marcus Freeman. The Fighting Irish picked up impressive wins over Clemson and North Carolina — both ACC divisional champs. They also won ranked games against BYU and Syracuse this season.

Notre Dame will now await its bowl destination, which will be revealed next weekend.