Matt Barkley handled himself impressively in front of more than 106,000 screaming fans at Ohio State.
The USC quarterback weathered a California crowd of more than 71,000 that received specific game-day instructions on how to distract the freshman with noise.
On Saturday, Barkley will get his third major road test -- this time in perhaps college football's most venerable venue.
When sixth-ranked USC plays No. 25 Notre Dame at Notre Dame Stadium, Barkley has a chance to make his mark in the sport's most intense intersectional rivalry.
Pat Haden and Carson Palmer are among the Trojans quarterbacks who struggled in defeat in starts at a stadium built in 1930. Paul McDonald, Matt Leinart and Mark Sanchez are among those who flourished in victory.
Barkley was typically poised when asked if he was looking forward to playing at Notre Dame.
"I'm stoked," he said Tuesday before quickly adding, "But I'll say this a million times: It's no different than any other game.
"I'll probably look back after I finish here realizing what a great tradition this is between these two schools. But to me, I'm not doing anything out of the norm to prepare for this."
According to Haden, who played on two national championship teams and now works as a broadcaster on Notre Dame telecasts, Barkley's preparation before arriving at USC will help him block out the pressure that quarterbacks of earlier generations felt playing at Notre Dame Stadium.
Haden, for example, took the first snap in 1973 and turned to hand off to tailback Anthony Davis. Davis, though, had run in a different direction.
"I'm not sure if it was my fault or Anthony's," Haden said. "All I know is I had five or six angry Irish defensive players after me. It was an unimpressive start to say the least."
Haden suggested that Barkley, much like Leinart and Sanchez, would not be similarly awe-struck after spending years playing in high-powered high school programs and prepping for years with private quarterback coaches.
"They're kind of primed as quarterbacks at a very early age to kind of handle these kinds of moments," Haden said. "They're so polished and mature -- I don't expect for him to have the same problems."
Nor does McDonald, who said that starting and playing well in the 1979 game was a career highlight.
The heat of the Notre Dame rivalry, he said, has been lessened some by USC's streak of seven consecutive victories.
