Sam Hartman, Joe Montana embrace in tunnel after Notre Dame routs USC, 48-20

He might have a handful of Super Bowl rings to his name and be one of the greatest quarterbacks ever, but after Notre Dame throttled USC, 48-20, on Saturday night, Joe Montana was just another giddy Irish alumni reveling in the win.

But being that Montana is a former Notre Dame quarterback himself and something of a legend he was, naturally, down on the sidelines. And he positioned himself right outside the Notre Dame locker room entrance to share a moment with the victorious Notre Dame quarterback, Sam Hartman.

The pair of Irish quarterbacks shared a quick hug, captured by the NBC cameras, before Hartman disappeared up the tunnel to join his teammates.

Sam Hartman 🤝 Joe Montana pic.twitter.com/DDe8mJpHDP

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) October 15, 2023

Right behind him was star tackle Joe Alt, who Montana got a high-five from, before a quick handshake with Notre Dame president Father John Jenkins. Montana played behind Alt’s father, John, for a handful of seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs.

All-in-all, about as good of an evening watching his alma mater as Montana could’ve hoped for. And it’s a night that Hartman, who went 13-for-20 for 126 yards and a pair of touchdowns and led a signature win over a long-time rival, will likely never forget.

Notre Dame heeded a message from their coach and played a cleaner 2nd half

Notre Dame had the first half against a potent USC offense and reigning Heisman winning quarterback go about as well as possible, holding a 24-6 lead at the break. But head coach Marcus Freeman was steamed about the little areas his team was losing its edge.

At one point in the first half, Freeman had to call a timeout to avoid too many men on the field on defense. At another, a personal foul cost the Notre Dame defense 15 yards and put the Trojans into field goal range for one of the two scores USC mustered in the first half.

“We gotta grow up. Like, we gotta understand situational football. And I love the emotion and the passion, but you’re going to get a penalty because we’re too busy celebrating instead of getting ready for the next play. One play, one life, man. We can’t worry about the last play and celebrate. Getting line up. It cost us three points. But we gotta be better as coaches and our players too,” Freeman said.

In the first half, both teams were about even on penalties. USC had four called and accepted for 36 total yards and Notre Dame had four for 38 yards. But for Freeman, it was clearly the moments and reasons for the penalties that left him less than pleased heading into the half.

However, despite this sloppiness, Notre Dame held a commanding lead and squelched out one of the best offenses in the country. This was largely thanks to three first-half interceptions from Caleb Williams as the Trojans offense was uncharacteristically out of sync.