USC coach Steve Sarkisian will take an indefinite leave of absence from the Trojans football program and in all likelihood will not travel to South Bend for Saturday's primetime rivalry game against Notre Dame. Offensive coordinator Clay Helton will serve as USC's interim coach with Sarkisian out.
Sarkisian was not at USC's practice on Sunday and the Los Angeles Times first reported athletic director Pat Haden asked the 41-year-old coach to take a leave of absence. USC lost Thursday night, 17-12, at home against Washington.
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Haden told reporters Sarkisian "is not healthy" but did not elaborate. Sarkisian was reprimanded in the offseason for apparently becoming intoxicated at a donor event in which he was pulled off the stage by Haden. Sarkisian said after the incident he didn't think he had a drinking problem but vowed to not drink the rest of the season.
Helton will be the USC fourth coach to face Notre Dame in the last four years -- Lane Kiffin, Ed Orgeron, Sarkisian and now Helton.
Sarkisian is 47-35 in seven years as a head coach spent with Washington (2009-2013, 35-29) and USC (2013-2014, 12-6). He previously served as USC's quarterbacks coach from 2001-2003 and re-joined Pete Carroll's staff in 2005 as a quarterbacks coach, then was promoted to associate head coach/offensive coordinator in 2007.
Before Sarkisian's leave of absence was announced, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly was asked if USC's loss to Washington last week would affect how his team approaches Saturday night.
"I think everybody knows the kind of talent USC has, and regardless of what happened against Washington, we know in this rivalry game what kind of performance that they're going to have against us," Kelly said. "Certainly, if they're ranked tenth in the country, that that's going to affect us a little bit differently than them not being ranked, but I still think, when you talk about beating USC, I think it still carries a lot of weight because people know the talent that they have on that football team."