LOS ANGELES — Christian Gray returned an interception 99 yards for a touchdown with 3:39 to play, Xavier Watts returned another interception 100 yards for a score with 1:18 left, and No. 5 Notre Dame punched its ticket to the College Football Playoff with its 10th consecutive victory, 49-35 over Southern California on Saturday.

Notre Dame is in the College Football Playoff after closing the regular season with a 49-35 victory over USC. It's great whenever the Irish defeat the Trojans, especially on the road, but this one carried extra meaning for the aforementioned reason.

Because it’s my No. 1 seed, I’ll crown Charlie Weis’ first team as my “national champion” in this all-Notre Dame field. The best quarterback with the best wide receivers wins out. Debate that if you’d like. But the bigger takeaway should be the current Notre Dame team rates as the program’s best shot at winning it all in a decade. Maybe longer.